The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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18 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2020 Mayfield in the offensive line room throughout the season, in the meet- ings, in practice, as a voice of rea- son. Coming from a guy who's been there, done that, in a really good and productive way, that helps Coach Ed Warinner develop that group. "It's a good thing to have a voice like that in the locker room. The posi- tive impact goes beyond what we're going to see on game day." Skene indicated the Big Ten's deci- sion to play is a win for all players across the conference. "It's been a lot of stress among these young men, and I'm happy for all of them that get to play," he said. "And the ones that don't want to play? That's fine too." Skene also pondered the effect of the uncertainty on those who ulti- mately opted out. "Had they known this, had the Big Ten been more transparent and got- ten on this sooner, maybe they would have been able to play their last season for their schools," he hypothesized. "Now, in a quiet room, by themselves, maybe they're absolutely regretting this and feeling frustrated. Maybe it would have been different had the Big Ten acted more expeditiously." For those that remain, Skene an- ticipated the Big Ten laying down the sort of strict guidelines it did, regard- ing testing and eligibility. "They absolutely wanted to put some rules in place to compel these young men to self-quarantine when they're not in the building and to give them motivation to stay away from the social scenes on campuses throughout the Midwest," Skene said. "It looks like they've done that. I'm going to assume that these guys that have been doing this all along are just going to continue. "That's what's so frustrating for them. They were doing these anti- social measures, because they were asked to, and the Big Ten pulled the rug on them anyway." He then gave the conference an- other tweak. "So now the Big Ten wags its finger and is allowing them to play, saying, 'Well, you better not be out there so- cially mixing with folks, or we're go- ing to really penalize your team and yourself,'" Skene said. "That's the way I look at it." Michigan has been highlighted as doing a superior job of keeping CO- VID out of Schembechler Hall and away from the football team. Har- baugh noted at an early September march by players and parents in favor of playing that his program had gone nearly 1,000 straight tests without a positive (the U-M athletics department overall has conducted 5,717 tests on student-athletes and staff members on campus as of Sept. 18 and had just 64 positives, a rate of only 1.1 percent). That sort of self-discipline ought to represent advantage Michigan when it comes to approaching the season ahead, Skene acknowledged. "It seems like it," he said. "It cer- tainly looks like it, from what Coach Harbaugh has put out there publicly, how they've gone about it, and listen- ing to what some of the players have said, how they changed their daily life- style, to stay away from the masses. "They're not at the block parties, and they're really doing their part. That could absolutely be an advantage for Michigan or any other program in the Big Ten that's really gone out of its way to self-impose these restrictions. "They're just trying to reduce the chances of the knuckleheads — and every football team has them — from going to the massive parties that are going to happen. Because these schools are going to try to crack down on these kids, they're going to happen indoors, with the shades drawn. "That's the way it's going to go. Hopefully, the Michigan guys will be just as diligent as they were before these rules were put in place." PROS AND CONS FOR HARBAUGH'S WOLVERINES Skene insists the teams that transi- tion best back to football and get out Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh (left, with punter Brad Robbins and his parents) and his team participated in a protest organized by players' parents calling for the Big Ten to play fall football on Sept. 5, the date of the team's originally scheduled season opener. PHOTO BY AUSTIN FOX Former Michigan All-Big Ten offensive lineman Doug Skene on players who left to begin preparing for the NFL after the Big Ten's initial football announcement "Had they known this, had the Big Ten been more transparent and gotten on this sooner, maybe they would have been able to play their last season for their schools."