The Loop
It’s almost impossible to fathom that this quote from Umass coach Walt Bell is real
For avid college football fans, this last week or so has been one of the most depressing weeks of 2020, which is obviously saying quite a lot. Numerous conferences have cancelled the 2020 football season, including two of the Power Five conferences, the Big Ten and the Pac-12. This fall, even if the SEC, Big 12 and ACC can come up with some sort of plan, Saturdays still ain't gonna be the same.
If you think it's tough on the fans, just imagine how tough it is for the players and coaches, some who have worked their whole lives toward that opening September game only to have it stripped from them. Walt Bell, head coach at Umass, might be taking it harder than anybody on the planet.
Earlier this week, Umass announced it would be cancelling its 2020 football season, a decision Bell had an extremely difficult time with, judging by this absolutely wild quote from The Athletic:
Goodness gracious, Walt. We do not want to make light of this in any way. It sounds like 2008-2012 was an awful few years for Bell. But less awful than the cancellation of a football season, after posting a record of 1-11 in his first year at the helm? Who are we to tell Bell how he should feel, but still, that's an insane thing to say!
But hey, guys like Bell are what make the sport so much fun to watch and cover. Football guys are legitimately crazy people, and Bell's quote hammers that point home as hard as humanly possible.