Setting the stage for return
Memphis says football players can return June 6
Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch announced Wednesday that all football players can return to campus June 6 as part of the first phase of all athletes, coaches and staff eventually coming back.
The first phase — which Veatch called Phase Zero — involves football players, staff and limited athletic department staff. The phased approach is to “permit adoption of best practices and keep the safety of the student-athletes at the forefront.”
It includes “strict protocols for a limited number of staff and student-athletes, while each subsequent stage will only be enacted upon the success of the previous stage.”
Memphis is the first AAC school to release a detailed plan involving athletes returning to campus. Football players will be the first students allowed on Memphis’ campus since the university announced on March 12 that it switched to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. U of M president David Rudd said earlier this month that plans are under way for all students to return to campus this fall. Summer classes will be held online.
Veatch added that the first phase will consist of no workouts but a screening process that involves testing, physicals and questionnaires.
If things progress, the plan could move into Phase 1 by June 15 where football players will be allowed to work out in groups of 10 following social distancing guidelines.
“It’s a time for us to safely phase in student-athletes over time,” Veatch said. “It allows you to isolate studentathletes that are coming back from high-risk areas. It’s the things you’re seeing and reading from most places that are managing similar scenarios.”
He added that the AAC gave each member school the ability to decide when to begin a phased reopening. Memphis’ decision was done after consulting with the AAC’S COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group as well as city, state, university and national medical advisers.
Veatch added that all players and staff will be tested upon arrival and the athletic department has partnered with American Esoteric Laboratories to help facilitate what he calls baseline testing. Per NCAA rules, coaches are not allowed to observe voluntary workouts.
All who return will continue to be screened daily with temperature checks, pulse oxygen testing and a questionnaire. Future testing will be determined based on screening results and any players showing symptoms.
Veatch added that when football players move into Phase 1, he will allow for men’s and women’s basketball players to return and begin their Phase Zero.
Other fall sports, such as volleyball and women’s soccer, could see a return closer to July.
“A lot of this is about managing resources. You have a limited number of staff, PPE (personal protective equipment), testing, the whole process you have to go through just to bring back SA’S safely,” Veatch said. “By phasing in sports over time, it allows us to manage those resources and to learn from the process as we go through it.”
When football workouts resume, Veatch said the groups of 10 will be restricted to one part of the football facility. That means 10 players could be outside doing conditioning drills while 10 are using the weight room.
He added that for Phase 2, the number could increase to 20 athletes working out together at a time.
It’s the latest sign that the fall sports season could happen as scheduled although the NCAA has yet to decide on how that will look.
The NCAA announced May 22 that all athletes could return to voluntary activities on June 1. Required athletics activities for basketball and football players are prohibited until June 30.