Coach K on Resuming College Sports For Some Teams

"Certain regions might be playing and other regions aren’t"

Professional sports are taking steps toward resuming, with discussions of opening facilities in the NBA and MLB and the NFL schedule release. That leads to the question of how college sports will be impacted by the nationwide shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski discussed the process of starting college sports back up in an appearance on Philadelphia’s WIP sports radio.

“I think there are different levels of brining back sports,” Coach K said. “Obviously, it’s needed. Just like bringing back our work force, the tens of millions of people that are suffering out there, not from the virus but the effects of the virus, with the economy. Bringing back sport, it’s much easier—not that it’s easy—for a professional franchise, a professional league to bring back their sport, because that’s all they do. That’s what they do.”

There are also fewer moving parts to manage in the pros.

The NBA, there are 32 teams you’re in charge of,” he said. “For the NCAA, for college in basketball, there are 353. In football, there are 120-something at the top level.”

Then there are the other campus activities that go on at college, which pro teams don’t need to worry about.

“You’re part of a college community,” he said. “So you really have to do what the community is doing It would be difficult for our school—we have a great president in Vince Price, a great, great guy—he has to figure it out. You can’t have athletes do what you don’t have students do, because the athletes are students. It’s not just bringing back sport. It’s how you bring back students. The professional ranks, you don’t have to worry about bringing back students. There aren’t as many people involved. That’s what you do. That’s your business.”

With so many teams and so many other considerations, Krzyzewski thinks there may not be a one-size-fits-all approach.

“I think college will try to learn from what professional sports do,” he said. “I think you’ve got to just be really careful again. You have to bring things back, too. We’re going to watch, I think, what the NBA does especially. I’m sure college football will watch what the NFL does. It’s up to the presidents, really. We could have, in our country, a disjointed way of doing things. Certain regions might be playing and other regions aren’t. Conferences have to make decisions as to whether or not everyone in the conference plays. In other words, in our conference we have 15 schools from 10 different states. What if in five states, you allow things and other states you don’t? Do those schools have abbreviated schedules or schedule without others? There’s been a lot of talk about that. It’s very complex right now. I think each week, this is a time when leaders have to be amazingly adaptable. They have to listen instead of just talk. So much is happening around the leaders. You’re going into uncertainty. Not saying, ‘We used to do it this way.’ Nothing we are doing is ‘used to.’ It’s a new way of doing it. Adaptability and listening ability of leaders in everything—our country, our state, our cities, our sports, are going to be tested.”