ANN ARBOR (WXYZ) — When the Big Ten Conference decided to postpone the fall football season, players from around the conference felt the effects of a fall without a normal football routine.
The day that Jim Harbaugh broke the news to the players that the decision was made was a tough one. Fifth year players Nick Eubanks and Carlo Kemp expressed their thoughts on the decision.
"It was a real dark day, everybody finding out that there wasn't going to be a season, because we had high hopes. We were into camp and things were going well, and that one day you just came into the building and felt that something was off. He broke the news to us and after that there was a whole bunch of mixed emotions, some of the players crying, some of the players asking what's next," tight end Nick Eubanks said.
While there's plenty of disappointment being passed around, there's also another way to look at it. Kemp admitted that he's looking forward to playing in the spring as a 5th year player, but if he were a younger guy, he'd look at this as a chance to continue to grow as a player in the program.
"It's a huge opportunity right now to just gain. Gain more knowledge on the defense, gain more knowledge on the defense, at your skills, at your craft. Those guys come in and they're thrown right into it, they come in at camp time and they've got a lot to learn and it's time to go, versus now, you got to do some things with us, you got to see a little bit of camp but now you can gain on that, if it's in the spring, the winter, you guys will be a whole year prepared, it's just using this time to your advantage.
With the decisions by the ACC, SEC and Big 12 pressing on with their seasons, for now, Eubanks and Kemp expressed their feelings on fall Saturdays in which they were on their couch watching other leagues continue to play.
"Every player wants fresh film, every player wants new film and right now we don't have that shot and it looks like other conference will. It's just what are you going to do in the meantime? I think one of the worst things to do would be not do anything, and that's something were not going to do here at Michigan, we're trying to keep things as routine as possible," Kemp added.
The Big Ten has still not come out and given more information on how they got to the decision to postpone the fall season and there are reports that some schools are continuing to push for some type of season.
We'll continue to follow this developing story.
