PSU's James Franklin doesn't think conferences need all schools for college football to start

During a Tuesday Zoom conference call with media members, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said he believes there's a "significant chance" the 2020 college football season could get underway without all conferences participating amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin added to that while speaking with ESPN.

Per Heather Dinich, Franklin told the Worldwide Leader on Wednesday that he believes conferences should allow teams to play even if the virus outbreak prevents all of its members from starting the campaign at the same time:

"To me, unless there's a level playing field and the NCAA comes out and says that no one's opening before this date to try to help with that, what you really end up doing is you end up hurting the conference," Franklin said. "Say two or three of the schools in our conference that are ranked in the top 10 have the ability to open and a couple schools don't, and you make the decision to hold the entire conference back, you're hurting the conference as a whole in terms of your ability to compete."

The Big Ten hasn't announced any official plans for the season, and the NCAA also hasn't committed to college football starting on time. NCAA guidelines for what will occur if a handful of universities in any conference remain closed for the start of fall semesters remain unknown. 

"In a perfect world, everybody opens at the same time," Franklin added. "I just don't see any way that [will] be possible. Are you going to not have college football this year or sports in general because two states in the country won't open? I don't see that happening."

As Justin Morganstein of The Daily Collegian wrote, Franklin also voiced vocal support for student-athletes receiving financial compensation for their likenesses, names, and images through sponsorship and endorsement deals while speaking with the media through a Zoom call. 

“I think anything that is going to be a positive for our student-athletes we are supportive of, and that is the case all across the country," the coach said. "It’s a lot more complex than what is reported or [discussed]; the complexity of making sure things stay within the guidelines is the challenge more than anything."