How a ‘boring is good’ approach is preparing Gamecocks for season in era of COVID-19
As South Carolina’s football team prepares for the start of preseason workouts, it can’t form a perfect “bubble” to ensure players and staff are fully insulated from COVID-19.
But coach Will Muschamp is urging his players to make safe decisions to avoid contacts with the novel coronavirus — and part of that means plenty of quiet nights in.
“We’re really proud of how (players are) handling a very difficult situation. We’re encouraging them to lead a very boring life,” Muschamp told reporters Wednesday. “Boring is good, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s hard sometimes, especially for young people, to lead a very boring life. But that’s what we need to do as we continue through the summer and start in the fall.”
With thousands of students already in the Columbia area and more still to come in the next few weeks, Muschamp said it will be crucial for his players to avoid risky behaviors.
“If you drive through Five Points at 9:30, there’s a lot of people out, and they’re not social distancing either,” Muschamp said of the nightlife district popular with students. “But, as I told our guys, you’ve got to make smart, mature, responsible decisions. Lead a boring life. That’s fine right now, that’s what we need right now.”
Those decisions, Muschamp said, will pay dividends once USC kicks off its 10-game conference-only schedule in late September.
“The mature, responsible teams are going to be the successful teams,” Muschamp said.
In addition to social situations, Muschamp said, players have met with athletics director Ray Tanner and other administrators to get more clarity on how classrooms will be arranged to allow for social distancing. Online courses, already a regular feature over the past several months, will be used as well, Muschamp said.
Social distancing is taking place inside the program’s facilities as well — a makeshift meeting room for the offensive and defensive line has been set up in the Spurrier Indoor Facility, Muschamp said. While one group is in the weight room, the other gathers at the indoor facility and watches film on a large screen.
Other large position groups, such as the defensive backs and wide receivers, have moved to bigger rooms inside the Long Family Football Operations Center to allow for more space.
The Gamecocks have also benefited from the new operation center’s expanded weight room, which has increased space, Muschamp said. Masks are necessary there as well.
Still, there’s no getting around some contact that will happen. If a player does test positive, that could cause roommates and others he’s come into contact with to have to quarantine. Hoping to minimize the need for contact tracing, Muschamp said the staff is encouraging players to use masks and wash hands frequently.
The program has also established a hotline for players to call if they see others not following safety protocols. That’s in addition to a hotline already in place for the athletics department as a whole, Muschamp said. When someone calls the football line, the issue goes to director of football operations George Wynn, who then presents it to Muschamp.
South Carolina’s athletics department has previously declined to release any COVID-19 testing data, citing privacy concerns, but Muschamp said Wednesday that the percentage of positive tests within the program has been under 5%.
Testing will continue throughout the season under SEC guidelines, with Muschamp saying he understands the SEC’s plan to be to test every player every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the season.
And if it comes down to it, Muschamp said he’d be willing to travel to away games the day of the contest to minimize contact, provided kickoff is 3:30 p.m. or later.
“Fly in four hours before the game, go eat your pregame meal and go to the ballpark. When I was at Valdosta State working with (coach) Chris Hatcher and we did that, we were undefeated,” Muschamp said. “ ... I told our guys, we might just be traveling just like you did in little league. You got your helmet and your shoulder pads and we’re gonna fly there the day of the game, take your stuff off and you walk into the ballpark in your cleats, and let’s go play.”
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
