Spartans are ready to play
Coaches, players excited about season after Mountain West Conference secures adequate testing
College football: San Jose State’s coaches, players excited about season starting on Oct. 24.
The Zoom calls for San Jose State’s football team have put most others to shame the past few months. The virtual visits from Kyle Shanahan, Jon Gruden and a number of NFL players provided insight, inspiration and entertainment. Plus, they were just plain cool.
But for sheer excitement, the Spartans’ most recent Zoom call with coach Brent Brennan topped them all.
Thanks to the Oct. 1 Mountain West Conference announcement, Brennan was able to tell his team they’ll get to play this season, after all.
“We were just ecstatic to hear that news because we’ve been working out for 10 weeks, but we haven’t necessarily known if we were working out for any particular goal,” said Cade Hall, a two-year starting defensive lineman from San Jose’s Bellarmine Prep. “So just having a timeline and having a season and something to look for, I think is huge for our team.
“And just getting to play football ... I mean, we came here to play football, so to get to do that is gonna be awesome.”
There remains, however, one more hurdle to clear before the Spartans will be able to take the field as a team again. Santa Clara County released a statement Oct 2, saying it will wait for an update from the state before approving San Jose State’s request to resume football practices and games.
On Oct. 1, the MWC’S board of directors, chaired by San Jose State president Mary Papazian, voted to resume athletic competition in the next few weeks. That includes an eight-game football season, set to begin on Oct. 24 and conclude with a conference championship game Dec. 19. A game schedule will be released later by the conference.
It was a reversal from the board’s decision from nearly seven weeks ago to delay football and fall sports until the spring. The big change was the MWC’S ability to adequately test its athletes. The conference announced a partnership with Quest Diagnostics to administer COVID-19 rapid antigen tests three times per week to student-athletes, coaches, trainers and other field personnel.
“I think at San Jose State that certainly was a gamechanger for us, if we knew we could test often and the test results would come quickly,” San Jose State athletic director Marie Tuite said during a Zoom call with reporters. “It has been heartbreaking to know we haven’t been able to get to a place where we’re healthy enough for them to compete.”
Tuite said there have been six student-athletes, including two on the football team, who tested positive for coronavirus since mid-july. All six are asymptomatic, she said. In all, there have been close to 900 tests on Sana Jose State student-athletes.
With the testing protocol in place, San Jose State must now get approval from Santa Clara County health officials and the California State University system to participate in football games. Tuite said the school would submit its proposal to county health officials on Oct. 2.
Will San Jose State’s request be rubber-stamped or will there be another roadblock for college athlete? Santa Clara County released a statement indicating the process may not be such a slam dunk.
“We and other public health experts have ongoing concerns about the transmission risks associated with intercollegiate contact sports, particularly in light of the many COVID-19 outbreaks that have occurred on (campuses). … After the Governor announced State guidance would be modified to allow PAC-12 sports to proceed, university leaders in the county are requesting our direction on whether intercollegiate contact sports can safely proceed.
‘We are currently waiting for the State to release its revised guidance. We will review the new state guidance and proposed university protocols, make local decisions focused on the safety of the entire community, and continue to apply consistent requirements across industries, sectors, and institutions.”
When reached for comment by this organization Friday night, San Jose State released a statement from Tuite, who said gaining clearance is a collaborative effort the school embraces.
“We look forward to working with our county’s health officials on protocols for our football program to conduct team activities leading up to the start of the 2020 season,” Tuite said. “We recognize the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff and those around them is a top priority to our county. We have been and will continue to be compliant with the county’s guidance and directives.”
San Jose State’s proposal will not include a request to allow fans attend home games at CEFCU Stadium, Tuite said. However, she said that could change in the months ahead.
As for Brennan, he’s overjoyed he’ll soon get his team back together. In person this time.
“I think getting the chance to play is exciting,” Brennan said. “It was painful when we found out we weren’t playing. I’m just thankful we get a chance to get back to it.
“There’s an amazing energy, like family, to a football team and that’s been missing for six months. We have not had everybody back together in the same space. … So I’m really excited about that.”
Brennan has done his best to keep things interesting for his players, particularly when it has come to meetings. The fourth-year Spartans coach has called on NFL head coaches and players to liven things up. He’s mixed things up in position meetings, having the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach teach defense and the defensive coaches running the meetings for the offense.
“It was really a neat opportunity to teach and learn in a different way and try to engage our team in a different way because we couldn’t be face-to-face,” Brennan said. “You couldn’t feel the normal energy and excitement that comes with being part of a team.”
While it’s hard to quantify what kind of effect Brennan’s creative Zoom meetings have had on his players, there’s no denying the Spartans took care of business off the field.
For the first time in team history, the Spartans’ football team finished with a cumulative grade point average of over 3.0.
“That’s the thing I’m probably most excited about right now,” Brennan admitted.