LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron Says Program Was Prepared for Positive COVID-19 Cases
While news broke over the weekend that as many as 30 LSU players had been quarantined due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the program, Ed Orgeron trusted the process. It's the process that the LSU administration and training staff spent months preparing for.
In a Tuesday morning interview with Baton Rouge radio show "Off the Bench," Orgeron said it's the preparation from athletic director Scott Woodward, senior associate athletic trainer Shelly Mullenix and director of athletic training Jack Marucci that has made the last few weeks run as smoothly as possible.
"They were very well prepared for our team to come in, obviously stuff's gonna happen," Orgeron said. "I think that our team is getting the best possible care and this is the new lay of the land. It's something we have to work through and I think our guys are doing a very good job of adjusting. We should be fine."
The report from Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger stated that as part of the protocol, athletes remain in quarantine for 10 days and then will need to be symptom free for three days afterwards before returning to team activities.
A source told LSUCountry that quarantined LSU football players are already starting to return to team workouts after their two-week isolation period.
When speaking about the team as a whole and their initial return to campus, Orgeron said most of the players came back in top-notch shape and that the next few weeks is getting everybody up to practice-level condition.
"The guys came back in great shape, the eight or nine weeks we were out, those guys came back in great shape," Orgeron said Tuesday. "We have a couple of guys that are overweight but that's expected. Our coaches have worked very well up here, our players have worked really well up here. The thing that we know with this virus is we've got to be very careful when we go out in public. We've got to wear our masks because that's where the problems come in."
Orgeron said probably close to 85 or 90% of the players are cruising along in workouts and doing a phenomenal job in their return. Since getting the head coaching job back in 2017, Orgeron has tried to instill a family like culture within his football team, meaning he'll speak with his players before making any public comments about a heavy topic.
It’s why he waited a little over a week to make his comments about the George Floyd death known to the public, because he wanted to see how his players were feeling first.”
“My players and former players are hurting, and they let me know they’re hurting,” Orgeron said in a statement to Sports Illustrated. “When they’re hurting, it hurts me. I love all my players like they were my own. I know some are hurting right now, and I totally support them. I will not tolerate racism, and they know it.”
A strong "Leadership Council," spearheaded by running backs coach Kevin Faulk, receivers coach Mickey Joseph and cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond, has been the backbone of approaching topics like the COVID-19 outbreak and the George Floyd murder.
"We sit down and we listen to the guys and these are all guys we recruited, they let me know what's going on," Orgeron said. "We talk together, we come up with a message and we sit as a team and discuss. For the most part, we've got 85-90% of our guys cruising along, doing the right things. We just gotta get everybody on the same page, rowing on the same side of the boat and we're gonna be fine.
"I do believe this team has great leadership and I do believe we're handling this as well as anybody in the country. Our focus is on school, getting in better condition and football."
