Duke's David Cutcliffe: I Trust the People in Our Medical Department
It appears that the ACC is going ahead with the football season, which means that teams will continue to take great care to make sure that there are safety protocols in place at practices.
Duke has worked hard to make sure that the players are protected as they go through preseason workouts, and coach David Cutcliffe thinks communication is key.
“It really eased their mind,” he said. “They know exactly what our protocol is, what the process is. We’ve really done a great job of trying to make sure the parents were comfortable with the protocols. We were honest with them, forthcoming, and that’s what you have to do. It’s all about information and communication.”
It’s been an ongoing process to get everyone comfortable with the plan.
“I don’t know how many team meetings and parent meetings we had throughout March, April, May, June, even early July, right before they came back,” he said. “I think there’s a confidence level there. I told them, ‘It is about trust, but we’re all about trust. I trust the people in our medical department.’”
That’s one of the benefits of coaching and playing at a school like Duke, with a world-renown hospital and medical school.
“Our doctors within our department are phenomenal,” he said. “Infectious Disease (department) at Duke, I spoke to them myself. I wanted to be educated. I wanted to do what the best practices were. Everybody’s learning. I’m not afraid to admit that we’re learning more each day, but we’re responding. The key is you can make a mistake when you start. ‘We’ve got to do this better with masking. We’ve got to do better with distancing.’ But you have to respond. We’ve done that well, I think. That’s made our players feel really comfortable.”
