Memphis coach cautious about too-quick return to action
Coach said he’s cautious about returning players to action too early
For the first time since Sept. 8, Memphis returned to football practice Saturday after announcing on Sept. 11 that football activities were paused due to positive COVID-19 tests.
It was a modified practice that went 14 periods instead of the usual 25 as Tigers coach Ryan Silverfield said the team wasn't at full strength. He said Friday's UTSA game would be a concern given the health of his roster.
The Memphis athletic department removed that worry by announcing hours later that the game was canceled due to positive tests. It gives the Tigers another week to recover before traveling to SMU on Oct. 3.
Silverfield, who addressed media before the announcement, said the hiatus made him not only worry about his players' health but also rushing them back into a game before he felt they were ready.
"I don't want to ever put our players or whoever we have, however many we have in danger," Silverfield said. "Because even if you said, OK you're going out there with a quarter of your roster missing or whatever it may be, is that fair to your current players? Does that even put them in danger right there?
"Say you get eight guys back from contact tracing and you expect them to play and they don't come back until the middle of next week, is that safe for them?"
Silverfield said the Tigers are testing at least three times a week and some players are being tested additional times to keep minimizing risk. After the team paused football activities, junior wide receiver Coye Fairman and senior linebacker Tim Hart decided to opt out of the season.
Silverfield didn't say how many players weren't at practice, but added the Memphis athletic department will continue working with the Shelby County Health Department on reporting positive tests within all Tigers athletics.
Any future positives will be announced as total cases within the athletic department, not cases within individual sports.
The health department said Wednesday there were 46 active cases within the athletic department.
Memphis confirmed the news in a statement later that day. Of the 46 cases, the health department said 42 cases were related to a cluster related to the football program but did not say how many cases were within the program.
"I get that a lot of people want a lot of transparency with this stuff and I understand that. But we're also protecting individuals," Silverfield said.
"I know you say, well we're not saying names and all that stuff. But I think just down the road, we're going to try to do this as a university and not report specific numbers per sport but maybe as an athletic department moving forward."
As for practice, Silverfield said the focus was on "walkthrough type things" and teaching tempo. He didn't want to rush players back, especially players returning from contact tracing who hadn't practiced in over two weeks.
He added that he spoke to at least 15 FBS head coaches to get ideas on handling positive cases or players out due to contact tracing. Most, he said, had outbreaks in the summer or when their players got back.
The best thing he could do is stay ready to adjust and ease his players back into football routines. He also gave his players credit for being calmer than he and his staff.
"We panic probably more than the players do, so it's given me hope, and our team understands that this is going to be a lot of bumps in the road this season. But if we just keep our focus, we'll be OK at the end of the day," Silverfield said.