California High School Football Season Delayed To December Or January

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced that the high school football season has been delayed to December or January due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Some states have delayed the start of season while the state of Utah plans to begin the season on time – at least as of right now.

This will have an impact on recruiting for college football coaching staffs as the state of California produces more talent than nearly every state in the country.

BREAKING: The start of the California high school football season has been delayed until December 2020 or January 2021.https://t.co/fCpC3ZWTO6 pic.twitter.com/OamyjMVgd1

— 247Sports (@247Sports) July 20, 2020

The CIF released the following statement on Monday morning.

“The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has determined, in collaboration with our 10 Sections, that education-based athletics for the 2020-2021 school year will begin with a modified season of sport schedule (see below for 2020-21 sports calendar),” the CIF wrote in a release. “Our calendar reflects the season for each CIF sport and the last date for Section Championships and Regional/State Championships in those sports where a Regional/State Championship is currently offered. Following this announcement, each CIF Section Office will release their own calendar to reflect regular season starting and ending dates and Section playoffs. It is anticipated that most Section start dates will commence in December 2020 or January 2021.

“We are continuously monitoring the directives and guidelines released from the Governor’s Office, the California Department of Education, the California Department of Public Health, and local county health departments and agencies as these directives and guidelines are followed by our member schools/school districts with student health and safety at the forefront. As these guidelines change, CIF Sections may allow for athletic activity to potentially resume under the summer period rules of the local Section.”

The Northern section of the CIF is still planning on playing sports in the fall.

Some college recruits try to graduate high school early in order to enroll early in the spring and start working with their college team during spring practice. This will have an impact on that decision. High school players that intend to enroll early will have to make a decision to skip their senior season of high school or enroll in college during the summer or fall.

Utah has 106 players listed on their spring roster, 29 of those players are from California. The players that haven’t enrolled at Utah in the spring are not listed on the spring roster.

BYU 117 listed on their 2020 roster, 21 are from California.

Utah State has 94 players on their current roster with 24 players coming from California.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.