Social distancing no problem for football program
What does social distancing look like in the Lobo football offices?
As it turns out, timing is everything. The onset of government-mandated self-quarantines coincides perfectly with what has become an extended spring break for the University of New Mexico’s main campus.
Classrooms are empty, common areas like the Student Union and the Duck Pond are deserted, and inside the Tow Diehm Facility at Dreamstyle Stadium, it’s quiet enough to make it feel like a ghost town.
“Actually, it’s not all that different than what we were expecting,” said Lobos football head coach Danny Gonzales after meandering around the halls of the Diehm Facility this week. “I mean, nothing has changed because the coaches have the week off for spring break and the athletes have all gone home.”
That will change soon enough. Gonzales said the coaching staff will resume daily meetings Monday, and the players are expected to arrive back on campus as early as March 29. Classes are tentatively set to resume the first week of April.
The university has instructed students, faculty and staff not to gather in groups larger than five or six people. As such, the Lobos’ weight room is off limits until April 5, at the earliest.
The only people allowed frequent access to places like the weight room, training center and locker room are the custodians armed with disinfectants, bleach and latex gloves.
“They’ve done a great job cleaning the place,” Gonzales said. “That’s not an easy job, but you see them in there keeping things safe for all of us.”
A self-described workaholic who would gladly spend 12 hours or more a day at work, Gonzales said he has been in constant contact with his coaching staff about what comes next.
The Lobos were in the middle of spring practice when things were shut down due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. They’d finished seven of the NCAA maximum 15 workouts when ordered off the field for preventative
measures on March 12.
The team was scheduled to have this week off for spring break, with drills to resume March 24 and the spring game scheduled for April 4.
“We’ve talked about what we’re going to do if we get permission to use the weight room again, and we figure that with the 10 position coaches, we can go in there in groups of five or six and keep them segregated from other groups,” Gonzales said. “We have them for four hours every morning, so there’s ways we can do this.”
For now, the self-quarantine routine has gone exactly according to plan. Gonzales said he and his coaches remain in constant contact with one another and their players through social media solutions like Zoom, ARMS and even video calls or group texts.
“The university’s been proactive in giving us the tools to be able to stay with the times and stay in contact,” Gonzales said. “It’s no different than if we were doing meetings every day, except now we’re just doing over the computers and phones instead of in person. It’s the same topics; the same information is being discussed. We’re just doing it other ways.”
As of Wednesday night, no players had been tested positive for COVID-19, and there are no plans to do widespread testing once school resumes. Gonzales said a few players had been tested independently before spring break, but any type of medical intervention — coronavirus or not — warrants immediate preventative measures from the UNM medical staff.
“That’s not out the norm when we get kids that are sick,” he said. “Any time we have a kid with a fever, they’re immediately sent home, even before the coronavirus. We stay up to date on that protocol. We have not had anybody test positive for it. There is no plan now to test them unless they are sick or come back sick.”
NOTES
UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez hinted last month that another big-money contract to play a Power Five football opponent was nearly complete. That announcement still hasn’t come, but Gonzales said it’s close.
He said there are two ways to approach Power Five opponents. First, the so-called “body bag” games that come with seven-figure payouts should only be against once-in-a-lifetime opponents like Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Auburn or USC; programs whose rich traditions and historic stadiums are something players and fans can cherish.
Second, only schedule mid- to lower-level Power Five teams if it means a home-and-home series. The Lobos have already inked one of those deals with Oregon State of the Pac 12, visiting Corvallis, Ore., in 2027 with the Beavers in Albuquerque the following year.
Even more preferable is getting a regional opponent like Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Texas Tech or Arizona State — all part of the Pac 12 or Big 12 — into home-and-home deals.
“I don’t see playing those guys for money,” Gonzales said. “If we’re going to play money games it’s going to be, one, for enough money and, two, to give our kids some exposure to something they might’ve never seen before. You go to Texas A&M, Penn State, Michigan or the Horseshoe [Ohio State], that’s something they’re never going to forget. In four or five years we’re going to be competitive enough to beat some of those guys so if they want to pay us $2 million to come beat ’em, I’m OK with that.”