Scott Stricklin Talks Fall Season, NIL

UF athletic director Scott Stricklin recently joined Steve Russell on his Sportecene show on WRUF. Stricklin jumped right into talking about fall sports and giving his thoughts on other topics.

College Football and Other Fall Sports

While on, Stricklin said right now, fall sports are scheduled to go as planned. However, it is all tentative. Stricklin hopes that there can be some fans in the fall. But admits that it’s uncertain.

He said if the season was today, there would be no fans in the stands.

As of now, no deadline to make a decision on spectators has been set. Stricklin feels that the longer they wait, the more they are able to make an informed decision.

Things are starting to open up as of late, and there is more testing, which helps. However, cases are going up (both aforementioned reasons are correlated to it). Stricklin said the weeks and months ahead will help with the decision making.

Addressing Change in Our Country

Stricklin highly encourages taking action in a way that is best for the individual. For him, it has been listening to the issues. He thinks there has been a lot of “compelling conversation” in the last few weeks.

He has taken the time to hear the stories and other things that players and staff have had to say. Stricklin considers it to be eye-opening.

Name, Image and Likeness

This week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that would allow college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness. The law takes effect on July 1, 2021. Stricklin said if it is done right then it is can be a good thing. However, he said he viewed it as something else now happening on top of COVID-19 and racial injustice in America. Stricklin said when the time comes to for the law to go into effect, he will make sure his athletes are ready for it and know their rights.

When asked if a national bill for N.I.L would be better, Stricklin felt it would be. It would help even the playing field and “help standardize the process across the country.”

Sound courtesy of the Sportscene