Brian Kelly Notebook
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly met with members of the media today and spoke on a variety of topics but mainly touched on the return to campus initiatives for the football team, recruiting, as well as the racial unrest throughout the country.
RETURN TO ACTIVITIES
The return to campus initiative that Notre Dame laid out a few days ago centers around the players and team personnel living on campus at the Morris Inn during a quarantine period and then slowly returning to football activity culminating in an August 7 open to camp.
When asked whether he knows if his players are ready to take the next step and be ready for camp Kelly noted he does not know truly where the players stand athletically and probably will not have a very good idea until they start camp on August 7, when he can see what they can do in football related practices.
In the meantime, players will workout with bands while in quarantine with no coaches present. That goes for the initial period of being on campus and if any players test positive moving forward. Once the quarantine is lifted they will work out with masked strength coaches. Once they move to outside activities the players will not be masked when they are outside. It is still in question as to if the coches will be masked or not.
Testing will begin with an every two week rotation of tests along with frequent temperature checks and symptom questionnaires. Once the season starts testing will be done weekly. Plans are in place in case someone does test positive during the season but they were not immediately made public.
“Make sure you have a replacement,” was Kelly’s direction to his staff whether it be a coach or player that tests positive.
2020 SCHEDULE STILL IN FLUX?
Kelly was asked about the possibility of Notre Dame playing a full 12-game schedule in 2020.
“They are not my decisions to make,” Kelly explained. “One of the things we have to keep in context is what happens in the PAC 12 and the BIG 10.”
He was clear that as soon as they get a positive response from the Big Ten and the PAC 12 they would make that public and binding. The feeling is that the relationship with the ACC is strong and there would be no changes there. Kelly reiterated that there are backup plans in place for scenarios that eliminate the Big Ten and PAC 12 if necessary.
The one change that was discussed was the possibility that Notre Dame’s away games scheduled for NFL stadiums could be moved to campus sites but nothing is firm there either.
“The NFL is talking about capping attendance at stadiums so questions come up like does it make sense to go to an NFL stadium when the gate is impacted and it becomes a losing proposition.”
In other words if they can’t make enough money from tickets to pay for the venue in the first place then what is the point?
ON CAMPUS RECRUITING MIGHT NOT RETURN SOON
Recruiting was a topic that was brought up as well, especially since July was nixed as a possible month for recruiting. Kelly mentioned that August will be focused on camp and commented what the fall could look like for recruiting.
“WIth all the precautions that are being taken how is it that you can fly in a family that hasn’t been tested, put them up in your hotel on campus and let them walk around freely? I just seem to think that it’s going to be hard to navigate through this in the fall. There is still work to be done. I do not see it happening quickly. We are operating that you will not visit this campus this recruiting season. We will have to take our season to you.”
FURTHER DISCUSSION ON RACIAL INJUSTICE
Kelly did respond to the many questions asking about his and Notre Dame’s response to the racial unrest in the country. One of the main responses was by creating a Unity Council.
“The Unity Council would be a cross section of players from our youngest to most veteran which represent the thoughts and ideas of where they want to make an impact. I hope it starts in our locker room. Actionable items to make us better in all the things we are talking about. It will not be just players but support staff as well. Male, female, black, white, hispanic. We think it needs to be a great cross section.”
Kelly mentioned that he also reached out to the players and that there are resources on campus to help them and if they need any assistance with those resources that the coaches are there to answer any questions.
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