An Update from the Director of Athletics

Dear Hurricanes Family,

I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy as we all continue to do our part in facing the challenges of this global pandemic.

There has been considerable conversation over the past five months surrounding the resumption of college sports. The Atlantic Coast Conference Board of Directors – comprised of the chancellors and presidents of all 15 member institutions – has today approved a plan that calls for all ACC fall sports to begin competition during the week of September 7-12. I would like to update you on how that will impact Miami Athletics.

For football, the season’s first games will take place the week of September 7-12. Each school is scheduled to play a total of 11 regular season games – 10 against ACC opponents plus one non-conference game. The non-conference game must be played in the home state of the ACC school. There will be no Atlantic and Coastal Division alignment this season. The plan is for the top two teams in the overall conference standings to meet in Charlotte, N.C. on either December 12 or December 19 in the ACC Championship Game.

The 2020 ACC Football week-by-week schedule and television selections will be released at a later date but we do know our home and away conference opponents, which are as follows:

• Home: Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Non-Conference Opponent TBD
• Away: Clemson, Louisville, NC State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

We continue to work with the Miami Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium and local and state officials on stadium capacity scenarios for our home football games. Once a capacity plan has been finalized we will notify all season ticket holders of their options as soon as possible.

In addition, the ACC announced that fall Olympic sports competition may begin on Thursday, September 10, which for UM includes our cross country, soccer and volleyball teams. Team sports will play a conference schedule that meets the NCAA minimum amount of games — six for soccer and 10 for volleyball. Those schedules will also be announced at a later date.

Rest assured we continue to make the health and safety of our student-athletes the top priority in our daily operations. We worked closely with University and UHealth administrators to develop our return to campus plan and I am proud of the way our staff has tirelessly worked to ensure we are following health and safety protocols throughout our facilities as our student-athletes in multiple sports have returned for approved summer activities.

Now more than ever, your continued support of Miami Athletics and our mission to Build Champions is critical. Our student-athletes have persevered through a year like no other in the history of college sports and we want to do everything we can to minimize the impact on their overall athletics, academic and cultural experience at The U.

We appreciate your patience as we have diligently worked through the parameters of returning to competition. If you have any questions, please reach out to a member of our staff. We will also continue to provide timely updates on our official website – miamihurricanes.com – and social media channels.

Thank you again for your support and Go Canes!

Blake James
Director of Athletics