Dino Babers: ‘We Dropped the Ball’

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse players sat out of practice for the second time in only two weeks of training camp due to concerns regarding COVID-19 testing. Head coach Dino Babers admitted the program "dropped the ball" on the issue during a virtual press conference Monday.

"They basically said certain things. And, you know, we dropped the ball on the one thing and they were right, and we froze practice until we cleaned it up. And the athletic director's already made a statement. And since that point, practice has been running really well."

The statement Babers referred to was one Syracuse AD John Wildhack released Friday evening. In that statement, Wildhack said player complaints were the result of "miscommunication". That miscommunication, according to Babers, stemmed from confusion surrounding when weekly COVID testing would begin.

To rectify the mix-up, Wildhack announced that weekly testing during the preseason would begin immediately and increase to three-times a week when the regular season begins.

Wildhack went on to provide the university's first release of testing results, announcing that five total athletes had tested positive for COVID-19 since returning to campus. Babers provided some perspective on how impressive he believes those numbers actually are.

"I know that with the Thursday tests that we had last week, we're at fourteen-hundred and fifty tests for our players," Babers said. "I feel like the atmosphere here and the the safety things that we're trying to get done at Syracuse for our players are really, really good. We just hope that all this stuff continues as students start to come back to the campus."

When asked about other students potentially failing to observe social distancing guidelines as closely as his players, Babers expressed some degree of doubt.

"That's going to be the real key," Babers said. "I really feel during the daytime, even if you look at young people, I think they do a great job. But what they do at night reflects what's going to happen to them during the day. And I would love to be with them where I could see exactly what they were doing at night. But that's not the American way. And I don't think I could survive that."

Fellow students aren't the only ones cautious 'Cuse players have their eyes on. In a statement made first to ESPN's David Hale, Syracuse AD John Wildhack said that the Orange's Oct. 17 opponent, Liberty University, has a "troubling" and "inadequate" attitude towards coronavirus testing. Liberty Flames head coach Hugh Freeze said the team hasn't recorded a positive test in three weeks, but that may be because the program hasn't administered tests the past two weeks.

Liberty football coach Hugh Freeze said the program hasn't had a positive test in three weeks.

The screenings in the past two weeks haven't necessitated any tests because players are not showing symptoms.
— Damien Sordelett (@DamienSordelett) August 14, 2020

Despite Liberty's failure to adhere to the standard Syracuse expects of its competitors, Coach Babers is confident all teams on the Orange's schedule will get in line when the time comes.

"I really believe by the start of the season that everybody is going to see transparency and they're going to be really satisfied with the ACC and with anyone that the team plays, that they're testing and the way we're going about testing, that people are going to be confident enough to enter that game and play that contest."

The stress of the pandemic has affected all of us, but its impact on health has left some Syracuse players feeling like they're making a life or death decision. Babers compared their dilemma to someone considering whether or not to join the armed forces.

"You see some players have some concerns and it's almost like they're deciding whether they're enlisting into the Army or not, whether they want to fight for their country or not," Babers said. "It's not fair to compare that because there's nothing like enlisting in the Army, to serving in the armed forces. So there's nothing like that to compare. But it's the closest thing to COVID-19."

According to Babers, the number of players with concerns about playing fluctuates from week to week. Those concerns also vary from uneasiness about the virus to matters of eligibility. Babers points to the NCAA's August 21st deadline for a decision on fall sports as an important day that will push those left on the fence one way or the other.

"You know, I know this is going to give young men enough information to move somewhere," Babers said. "The thing that bugs me the most is to see someone at their age indecisive, to see someone half and half. We don't operate like that in football. We're normally all in or we're all out. And now we're all in and we're all out and we're in the middle. And we really don't like that that gray area."

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