East Mississippi Community College won’t be playing football this fall, the school announced Tuesday afternoon.
In the wake of the decisions made by the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences Tuesday to cancel fall sports, including football, EMCC issued a statement saying it had chosen not to participate in the sport during the fall semester.
The Mississippi Association of Community Colleges is currently set to begin play Oct. 1 for a six-game regular season, and the Lions are the first team to opt out of fall competition.
“The well-being of my players will always come first,” EMCC coach Buddy Stephens said in the school’s statement. “There are too many unknowns to put in front of our players moving forward at this time. We must make this incredibly heart-breaking decision to not participate in the fall 2020 season.”
EMCC said it will honor scholarships for its student-athletes and that they will remain enrolled in classes and retain access to facilities and support services.
The school acknowledged playing football in the spring remains uncertain should the MACC postpone its season by a semester. The National Junior College Athletic Association announced July 13 it would move the college football season to the spring, but the MACC held out for a fall season after shortening its slate from nine games to eight and then to six.
“Player safety is of the utmost concern,” MACC Commissioner Steve Martin said in the statement. “We understand the decision made by East Mississippi Community College and support their stance.”
EMCC went 6-4 last season, losing in the first round of the MACC playoffs, after winning back-to-back national championships in 2017 and 2018. The Lions won five national titles in the 2010s alone.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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