At a point on the college athletics calendar when nothing was thought to be happening, what just might turn out to be the most momentous shift in years shows signs of taking place.

While many college athletes have yet to return to their fields and gyms due to the impact of COVID-19, a movement of empowerment is boldly taking place across the landscape by the day.

Athletes used to unquestioningly taking orders that go along with their scholarships are now asking pointed questions. Athletes trained to respond to coaches whistles while keeping their opinions to themselves are daring to assert themselves when they don’t agree with the status quo.

Stirred to action by the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the senseless death of George Floyd, college athletes across the country are following in the footsteps of the pros and finding their voices and using them to bring about change. The kind that was considered rare, if it was considered at all, just a few seasons ago.

Colleges have long been incubators for change, of course, but often the movements haven’t made it across campus to the precincts of the athletic departments, where coaches could be untouchable and administrators unreachable.

But we’re seeing a remarkable amount of change these days. At Florida State, football players called out their coach, Mike Norvell. When Norvell fibbed that he had personally connected with every player in response to the killing of George Floyd, a player, defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, publicly called the coach on it saying the coach had used a generated text.

As other players rallied around Wilson and threats of a boycott rose, Norvell was compelled to quickly express contrition and explain himself to his players.

At Iowa, where head football coach Kirk Ferentz has ruled with a strong hand, he is now forced to defend his policies and an assistant coach he hired against accusations from current and former players.

On the Clemson campus, where tradition runs deep, players are advocating for the removal of the name of John C. Calhoun from the university’s honors college, citing his background as a slave holder. It is a campaign that is now attracting the Tigers’ NFL alumni as well.

Wider still, college athletes are advocating for a Nov. 3 day off to express themselves on election day, when real differences can be directed. The power of the ballot box is something that has traditionally lagged with just 48.3% of college students having voted in 2016 compared with 61.4% of citizens overall.

Athletes are beginning to see they can have a stronger voice and make people listen. The heavy hand of the NCAA is being lifted, however slightly. A transfer portal has been opened and, hopefully, next year the NCAA and its membership will institute the one-time transfer option permitting more choice of movement.

The name, image and likeness revolution is gaining momentum from which some athletes may finally reap financial benefits long denied them by the very institutions that profit from them.

Woe be to the coaches stuck in a time warp that, when athletes were told to jump, their only question was supposed to be: “How high?”

What was a summer of quiet on the fields of college athletic endeavor shows signs of being stirred to a clarion call of change.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.