The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2020 THE WOLVERINE 19 coach Mel Tucker and an athlete test- ing positive. The squad was asked to quarantine or self-isolate for 14 days, after a July 22 workout. "As part of the athletic department's return to campus policy, student-ath- letes quarantine when coming into close contact with an individual who tests positive for COVID-19," a state- ment released by MSU noted. "The university has designated areas avail- able to house individuals in quaran- tine as needed based upon the living arrangements for student-athletes." Meanwhile, the outlook got better in some areas. Clemson football re- vealed 23 coronavirus infections on June 19, but as of late July, athletics di- rector Dan Radakovich insisted there were no active cases of the virus in the school's athletic department. Ohio State, which shut down work- outs earlier because of the virus, moved forward with its next phase of football preparation. That involves walk-throughs, team meetings and weight training/conditioning, like it does for all schools. OSU isn't releasing its COVID-19 testing numbers publicly due to "indi- vidual medical privacy," while stress- ing "the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes is our highest priority." An Ohio State release also noted: "Health and safety protocols are de- signed to be as responsible as possible based on guidelines established by the Ohio State COVID-19 Transition Task Force and its Safe Campus and Scientific Advisory Subgroup, and also the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Ohio Department of Health." Even if the football season goes forward for most, individual players might opt out. The parents of sopho- more defensive tackle Chris Hinton made clear in July their son could be among those sitting out the season. Hinton's dad, former NFL Pro Bowler Chris Hinton Sr., and his wife, Mya, indicated to the Chicago Tribune they'd like to see the NCAA enforce uniform COVID-19 guide- lines. They've put together an advo- cacy group, College Football Parents 24/7, to push for greater leadership from the NCAA. The Hintons expressed no com- plaints about how Michigan is run- ning its oversight. The same goes for Stanford, where another son, Myles, plays. But they remain firm in their concerns about the big picture. "It's on us as parents," Hinton said. "Do we put our sons back in harm's way? It's tough when your son is a rising sophomore and this is his year to actually break into the rotation. "We talked about it. We felt about as comfortable as we could feel in what the two schools were present- ing. But it was a hard decision." He also said: "Mya and I are huge football fans. We want to see a sea- son. But we want it done safely and only if it makes sense." Jansen noted in his podcast the success professional leagues, includ- ing Major League Baseball, are enjoy- ing in their startups. Much has been made of the differences between the pros and college athletes, but the U-M All-American pointed out that's at least a starting point for discus- sion. "If they can't do it there, it makes it almost impossible to do at the college level," Jansen said. "It is great to see the positive numbers, and the lack of positive tests … if they can do it, there's hope that we can do it at the college level." That hope remained throughout Schembechler Hall and far beyond in the waning days of July. Big de- cisions are coming fast, like Devin Bush on an all-out blitz. ❑ Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh "If students are on campus, then my personal belief, as a parent of a daughter who will also be on campus, is that this is a safe place. … With the safety precautions that have been put into place, medical oversight for the students, student- athletes, students in general, I would feel good." Jim Harbaugh and his football program started to welcome student-athletes back to campus the week of June 15, along with the men's and women's basketball teams. From then until July 24, Michigan had issued 729 COVID-19 tests to student-athletes, coaches and staff, with only 13 positive results. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL