No football without students on campus?

While Jim Harbaugh has expressed his support for his team playing regardless of the circumstances on campus, his boss in Ann Arbor, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel, is on the opposite end of that spectrum.

Check out what Schlissel recently had to say in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“If there is no on-campus instruction then there won’t be intercollegiate athletics, at least for Michigan,” Schlissel said. The Michigan president also added he has “some degree of doubt as to whether there will be college athletics (anywhere), at least in the fall.”

Following those comments, Paul Finebaum was asked during his most recent appearance on ESPN morning show “Get Up” to share his reaction to those comments and whether or not he believes Schlissel is alone in the logic that college football won’t be played without students on campus.

“I don’t think [Schlissel’s] on an island… We have not heard that from that many presidents,” Finebaum said on the show. “We heard from [West Virginia President] Gordon Gee the other day and he said, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to play football. We’re going to play, even if I have to suit up.’ He’s 76 years old, it’s worth reminding people.

“But I think you’re going to see isolated cases and I think the Michigan president is going to carry a lot of weight. Primarily because he is a physician, he’s an immunologist. This is not just your normal, garden variety school president, and I think he’s going to send a message across the bow, be careful here, and I think you’re going to hear more, maybe not a lot, but more presidents follow suit from where he is standing today.”

As the SEC Network host notes there, while Schlissel’s comments may be in the minority for now, they still are worth paying attention to looking ahead to the fall. While Coach Harbaugh may be eager to return to the practice field with his team, they likely won’t be doing that until Schlissel gives them permission to do so.