As a self-described “fixer” when faced with challenges, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic director Mark Wharton has found this to be an incredibly frustrating time for someone with that type of personality.
People ask him questions, and like so many around the country unsure of how to proceed with sports during the coronavirus pandemic, he doesn’t always have the answer.
“It’s been an incredibly emotional time,” he admitted Thursday.
Wharton is among the multitude of athletic directors and administrators attempting to figure out what they can put together in terms of a fall sports season under the guidelines set forth Wednesday by the NCAA in order to hold championships for Division I programs.
Already, fall sports championship events have been canceled at the Division II and Division III levels. One of the guidelines to have a fall championship is that at least 50% of eligible teams within that division have to participate. There are 13 conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision – including the Southern Conference, to which UTC belongs – and of that number, at least six have already announced a cancellation of fall sports.