SEC outbreaks don’t alarm Cal, Stanford
Alabama and Florida grabbed massive attention this week with coronavirus outbreaks that have some questioning the entirety of college football during the pandemic, but Cal and Stanford coaches and players said the plight of the national powerhouses shouldn’t affect their seasons.
“We’re living in an overreaction society right now,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said. “I don’t mean that in a political sense. I just mean, in general. If you really think about everything that’s happened in the past six months, did anybody think we were going to make it through this entire season without anybody getting sick and any games being affected? We’ve been talking about this for six months.”
Cal and Stanford are a just a week into training camp for a sevengame season that is scheduled to begin Nov. 7. After initially postponing its season, the Pac12 decided to play a shrunken slate after it secured the ability to have rapid daily testing — something that isn’t happening in the SEC.
Head coach Nick Saban tested positive Wednesday and might miss No. 2 Alabama’s game against No. 3 Georgia on Saturday, and No. 10 Florida had its game against LSU postponed after 20plus players tested positive and left the Gators without the requisite 53 scholarship players.
“We’ve all talked about this. It’s going to happen,” said Shaw, who has served on both NCAA and Pac12 committees about how to deal with the pandemic. “We knew that as soon as we started opening up campuses, this was going to happen. We knew that as soon as we started traveling and getting guys around each other and interacting with society, this was going to happen. This is something we’ve all prepared for.
“This virus has circled the globe multiple times, so no one is immune. It’s hit everywhere from the White House to preschools. It’s going to happen here or there. The best thing we can do is continue to prepare for when it does happen to isolate people. At the same time, allow these young people to live their dream and play this sport in the safest fashion and safest way possible.”
Stanford had its first several practices at Woodside High in San Mateo County before Santa Clara County officials allowed the Cardinal to begin working out on campus Wednesday. Both Stanford and Cal are having virtual or outdoor meetings and practicing in sessions with 75 players or fewer.
Coaches and players also are supposed to wear face coverings and properly distance when possible.
“We have our standards and protocols, and we know that we have to follow them to keep this thing going,” Stanford linebacker Curtis Robinson said. “I think everyone is really dialed into that, but, at the same time, ( Alabama and Florida) serve as good wakeup calls. If guys think that since things are going well, they can ease up, seeing teams having cases pop up in the middle of the season is a good wakeup call. It’s a good indicator that we can’t ease up. We can’t ignore the protocols. We can’t ignore the standards that have gotten us this far.”
Stanford receiver Simi Fehoko said he got an alert on his phone about the Saban news, and that sparked a conversation among his teammates. Cal running back Marcel Dancy said his teammates are having similar chats, because what happens at other schools is “an opportunity to learn.”
The learning experiences are coming from the NFL level, too. Both Atlanta and Indianapolis had to shut down facilities this week after a slew of games were rescheduled in the past two weeks.
“I think everybody is learning from the other conferences and the NFL. I think what we’ve learned is that we don’t have all of the answers,” Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon said. “You’re taking the health and welfare of the players, coaches and fans as the first line of your decisionmaking process.
“To be only two weeks or even two months into how you used to make decisions and apply them to what you do today, that’s where we need to have the flexibility and openmindedness of taking the best and newest information and applying it.”