UH players say it’s been tough being three hours away and they want to help.
Players believe they should be at home helping out
AUSTIN — They have seen images on television. Destruction everywhere. Entire neighborhoods underwater and people rescued from rooftops. Boats on major freeways where cars should be.
When the University of Houston football team boarded charter buses and left campus Friday afternoon, they did not expect to be gone six days or watch their namesake city endure one of the most destructive storms in the nation’s history.
Just three hours away, all the UH players can do is watch.
“It’s tough being here,” safety Khalil Williams said as the Cougars worked out on the University of Texas campus. “When I see the images, it’s kind of scary. You want to be at home doing what you can to help people. It’s my home.” No handbook for this
Displaced from campus, apartments and family, UH anticipates heading home as soon as Thursday night. Coach Major Applewhite has been quick to remind his players “how fortunate we are” to escape the flooding, the postponement of the season opener simply a mild inconvenience.
“We need to understand what’s really important,” Applewhite said. He added, “If you really want to see someone struggling, turn on the TV and see people punching themselves out through roofs and getting picked up by helicopters. We’re staying in four-star hotels and having steak dinners volunteered. We’ve been very fortunate.”
But Applewhite conceded, “I don’t know if there is a handbook” on how to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. How to say the right words to comfort players worried about family members. To offer a respite, UH has provided activities for players, including a viewing of Saturday night’s Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight. On Tuesday night, the team was invited to Vince Young’s steakhouse.
“It’s nothing we can really complain about,” linebacker Emeke Egbule said. “We’re not in Houston. We’re not underwater. We’re in a hotel, eating nice and being taken care of. We’re just grateful to be safe.”
And when Applewhite saw the look on his players’ faces Sunday, he cancelled practice so they could track down family members. UH athletic director Hunter Yurachek and the campus police department also worked tirelessly to account for players’ families, particularly those in areas hit the hardest.
“Just knowing that our families were safe was a lot of weight and stress taken off,” Williams said.
Offensive line coach Chris Scelfo has been through a natural disaster before. Twelve years ago, Scelfo was the head coach at Tulane when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans five days before the 2005 season opener.
Tulane moved its athletic department to Jackson, Miss., then to Dallas, and finally the football team settled into a dorm on the Louisiana Tech campus.
Scelfo said the Cougars have it much differently than his Tulane team, which spent three nights in a gymnasium.
“We didn’t have the resources we have now,” he said. “We were in Jackson State University gym for three nights. We have much different amenities with food, water and a bed.”
Scelfo shared his experience this week during an offensive line meeting. He has an idea what to expect when UH returns home.
“It’s going to be a tough situation,” Scelfo said. “Until you see, smell and feel, you don’t really get the full picture that the city is going through right now.” Leaving lasting impact
East Carolina coach Scottie Montgomery is familiar with UH’s ordeal. The Pirates had a return trip to Greenville, N.C., diverted by Hurricane Matthew last October.
“You just can’t be prepared for those situations,” Montgomery said. “I really think what we did here, our community came together and our kids helped in the community. What you do understand is that these kids are impacted heavily by what happens. It’s bigger than football. It’s bigger than school. It’s these kids’ lives.”
To prepare for the return home, UH announced Wednesday two drop-off locations in Austin for donations. Six FBS schools from the state — Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, SMU, North Texas and Texas State — have committed the use of football equipment trucks to transport the supplies to Houston.
“It’s going to hurt seeing my town,” offensive lineman Josh Jones said. “I’m ready to go help as much as I can.”