News from Across The Land
Here's a look at the latest news around the NCAA and the college football landscape the last few days.
Iowa Football vows to improve culture
Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz is the longest tenured head coach in the country and has enjoyed considerable success since taking over in 1999. But the Hawkeyes' coach admitted to having a "blind spot" in his program related to making African American players feel comfortable. He said Friday afternoon at a press conference that he expects things to change moving forward.
Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle is the highest paid strength coach in the country and he is widely considered to be among the best at the job. Doyle was placed on administrative leave this week, after many former players took to social media to express their displeasure with the environment he created.
NCAA suggests that no athletic activities take place on November 3
On Friday afternoon, the NCAA Board of Governors put out a statement that encouraged student-athletes participation in social activism. As part of their statement, they encouraged every school across the country to abstain from mandatory athletic activities on Election Day, November 3, so that student-athletes can more easily participate in their civic duties.
To clarify, this is not a mandate by the NCAA that each school must follow. Rather, it is a suggestion that allows each school to do as they see fit.
Clemson says three student-athletes test positive for the coronavirus
Two Clemson football players and one men's basketball player have tested positive for CoVID-19. According to Clemson's policy, those players testing positive and their possible contacts will be isolated. The school will contact the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to trace the athletes' known contacts.
The state of South Carolina has seen a significant increase in positive cases this week.
University of Houston suspends workouts with six positive tests
There has also been a surge of positive cases in the Houston area, and six student-athletes across various sports tested positive when they reported to campus for voluntary workouts. All six of them were symptomatic.
Houston did not test all athletes when they returned to campus, only those who showed symptoms of having the coronavirus, according to the Houston Chronicle. Any athlete having a temperature above 100.2 degrees, the current guideline set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was immediately put into isolation, evaluated by team doctors and quarantined until test results come back, according to the Chronicle.
Houston is the first school to suspend athletic activities after bringing student-athletes back to campus following a shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
