Mullen, Florida Gators Preparing for 'Normal Regular Season'
The University of Florida is taking things one step at a time as student-athletes return to school for voluntary workouts and prepare for a possible 2020 season amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
In a Zoom conference call with media on Tuesday, Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen said that the team has scheduled fall football camp to begin on Aug. 7 and that the team is planning the upcoming season as normal, but of course, heads are being kept on a swivel for new information.
"As of right now, we’re planning a training camp as normal," Mullen said on Tuesday "We’re planning a normal regular season because that’s what we can know at this point."
The nature of the coronavirus pandemic will determine the path to a return to football, given the unknowns of the virus and a lack of a vaccine to treat positive cases. Provided such information, or really a lack thereof, Mullen and the University of Florida are preparing for things as usual with the mindset to adjust accordingly.
"I think it’s a waste of energy sometime to speculate on all the different things that can happen," Mullen continued. "What we have to do is be prepared to adjust to whatever does happen. As we get knowledge and as we get information and some solid fact, we’ll adjust accordingly at that point."
Schools across the nation have already had to adjust on the fly to the implications of coronavirus infecting football and college athletics. The University of Houston suspended its voluntary workout program on June 12, shortly after it began on June 1 as six returning student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival.
The University of Alabama entered the headlines last week after five football players tested positive for coronavirus, yet those players were allowed to participate in group workouts before their results came back. After a second round of testing, Alabama is now up to at least eight positives.
The Gators have already returned at least 87 students to campus, according to the school as of June 9, for voluntary workouts. As of the June 9 teleconference with UF's associate athletic directors of sports health, no COVID-19 tests had come back positive from any returning student-athlete. Seven tests were still pending at that time.
Mullen wouldn't expand on further testing information in regards to the team, but made note that he had been tested for coronavirus and his results came back negative.
Despite the good news, UF is preparing to deal with positive cases and the situation is being considered fluid.
The NCAA Division 1 Council is set to vote Wednesday on a six-week plan in order to kick off the 2020 college football season, laying out a schedule and guidelines for voluntary workouts, conditioning, the pre and regular season, and more.
"I know they have all the projection of what they're going to do. We've been able to work with that schedule," said Mullen. "I think the one thing they're trying to do is give us flexibility, especially with where we're at right now.
"The NCAA, a lot of everything is one size fits all and everybody has to be the same. I think to be able to kind of give us the flexibility to manage within our own programs is going to give us the opportunity to best develop these young guys and prepare these young guys."
The majority of the schedule is relatively the same in regards to voluntary workouts and kicking off camp. However, the conditioning schedule is something that teams will have to adjust to.
"What’s different, the variable right now, is that July 24 through Aug. 6," Mullen said on Tuesday. "We’ve written up our plans for that. We feel pretty comfortable with what we’re doing getting that time, if that does get officially approved the NCAA. Then we’ll go to the next part.
The two-week stretch Mullen refers to will provide summer access with walk-through practices and meeteings that are required 14 days before fall camp kicks off. Schools will be provided 20 hours a week for "countable athletically related activities" icluding conditioning, weight training, and film review, with two days required off.
"Training camp is supposed to start on time, Aug. 7," Mullen said "At this point, so it’s those two weeks in a buildup that’s different this summer for us.”
