The Latest on COVID-19's Effect On WVU Football
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, President Donald Trump held a conference call with the commissioners of each major American professional sports league concerning the COVID-19 pandemic currently sweeping through the United States.
The president went on to say that he expects the NFL season to start on time this coming September and expects to have fans back in arenas and stadiums by August, something that clearly also bodes well for college football. This comes on the heels of the president extending the federally-suggested policy of social distancing through the end of the month of April.
The NBA was the first professional sports league to suspend operations on March 11, following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert's positive test for the coronavirus. West Virginia's football team was forced to suspend spring practice shortly thereafter following just two days of work.
If Trump's projections are accurate, the Mountaineers should be in line to play out a full schedule, beginning with the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta, Georgia against Florida State on September 5. The only question when the team will be able to return to practice.
According to reports by the University of Washington, the death toll of the virus is expected to peak on April 15 before seeing a sharp decline in the month of June. This would put the NCAA and the individual conferences in uncharted waters, with two months to go before the traditional start of fall practices and the majority of member schools' athletes away from their teams with campuses closed.
Under the current Big 12 regulations, Neal Brown and his coaching staff are currently permitted to hold meetings with their players but can only maintain two hours per week of instructional time with each one. Additionally, the closure of the university for the remainder of the semester has resulted in many athletes leaving campus with little access to training facilities and equipment at home.
While coaches can still educate their players on the X's and O's of Neal Brown and Vic Koenning's respective offensive and defensive schemes, there is no substitution for live practice. With West Virginia University president E. Gordon Gee being among the nation's most proactive since the virus's rise to pandemic status, the Mountaineer football team is n the midst of a waiting game being played by so many other programs around the country.
The loss of spring practice, in addition to summer conditioning, would affect not only the Mountaineers but every college football team around the country. Even if the college football season starts on time, this is shaping up to be a year in sports that is entirely unprecedented in the modern era.
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