Pete Carroll: Seahawks Preparing for 2020 Season to Start at Anytime
With the entire world currently in shut down mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains unclear when professional sports will be able to start back up.
But as the NFL moves forward with the 2020 draft, which will be held virtually with coaches, general managers, and coaches working remotely away from team facilities on April 23-25, coach Pete Carroll indicated the Seahawks are taking as proactive of an approach as possible to be prepared when finally given the green light to return to the field.
“Well everything is kind of in flux right now,” Carroll said in an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio. “We’ve set back the time frame to start, but we’re getting ready for virtual offseason and all of that. We’re all working real hard to do that to get organized so that we can do it really well. We just have to be patient, but in the meantime we just kind of keep grinding and stay with the mentality kind of like that they could tell us next week that we’re on."
"We’re attempting to be as prepared as possible. We’re not saying ‘OK, we’ve got three or four weeks to figure this thing out.’ We’re not doing that. We’re just going for it.”
The state of Washington currently has a stay-at-home order in effect through May 4 and the NFL already postponed the start of organized team activities league-wide. Given the fact governor Jay Inslee opted to cancel on-site school instruction for the rest of the year, there's a chance restrictions could be extended well into May and beyond, which could have an effect on Seattle's ability to conduct practices even if the league gives the go-ahead.
With projections about when life will return to a semblance of normalcy all over the map, the NFL isn't currently in a position where it can make a tentative timetable for initiating offseason programs or training camp. The only good news amid the uncertainty? Unlike the NBA and MLB, commissioner Roger Goodell has several months until any meaningful games are scheduled, meaning those types of decisions don't have to be rushed into.
As for Carroll, he hasn't been able to communicate with his players due to a moratorium period that is part of the NFL calendar. But eventually, the league will allow coaches to correspond with their players again, allowing him and his staff to set plans in motion preparing for a season that may or may not happen.
Things will certainly be dramatically different in the midst of a global health crisis and Carroll understands everyone will have to be flexible and accept things "not being like you know it." If there's going to be a season as scheduled, his team has no choice but to be ready to go regardless of circumstances.
“It’s no different than everybody is in the whole world right now. We’re all kind of in flux so I think the mentality and attitude is what’s most important. We’re going to figure it out and work through it and we’re going to be open to the change and willing to be adaptable and all of that so our mindset is real good about it and I think it goes kind of across the board for everybody. We’re all living that way right now.”
