UNC making plans to handle football players return to campus
Posted June 15, 2020 10:32 a.m. EDT
Updated June 16, 2020 4:49 p.m. EDT
Chapel Hill, N.C. — If Alabama is the standard, college football programs across the country are going to be dealing with players testing positive for COVID-19.
Shortly after players from Nick Saban’s dynastic SEC program returned to campus for workouts last week, at least five tested positive for COVID-19, according to media reports.
North Carolina has a plan for how to handle the return of its football players to campus. Athletic director Bubba Cunningham was interviewed by 60 Minutes Overtime on Sunday and went through the protocol that UNC will follow.
“Each person that comes into the football building will be tested upon their first time back,” Cunningham said. “Then we will wait for the test results. Then we will assess them from a physical standpoint and then they’ll be able to engage in voluntary activities. And then a week to 10 days later, we will test them again.”
Cunningham wasn’t asked specifically about what would happen if a player tests positive but said: “We feel like the plan that we have in place is a very safe plan. It’s one that we can execute and it’s one that we can modify, should we need to.”
UNC announced its plans to return to campus in late May. Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz was featured on “60 Minutes” on CBS on Sunday and talked about the university’s plans to bring students back to campus.
“We’re not going to bring students, faculty, staff back onto a campus where we don’t believe it’s a safe environment,” Guskiewicz said on “60 Minutes.” “There’s certainly some risk but we believe we’re putting in place the right measures to mitigate that risk.”
Among the risks is how to handle crowds at football games. Cunningham was interviewed at Kenan Stadium where he was asked if there would be football this fall.
“Well, we are certainly hopeful that there will be football,” Cunningham said.
How the seating will work for the 51,000- seat stadium is a still question that needs to be answered, Cunningham said.
“Do you go to a general admission and let people social distance naturally?” Cunningham said.
The logistics of getting fans back into the stadium and protocols for concessions and restrooms are also being ironed out.
Cunningham was asked about the financial implications of not having a football season.
“Football and basketball certainly provide an awful lot of revenue — if not all of the revenue — for our department,” Cunningham said. “We have 28 teams. We have 800 student-athletes. We do need revenue to support our programs.
“We believe in the athletic experience and how it enhances the educational experience on our campus. So we will have to work through the financials — should we play or not play.”
