Oklahoma football: Returning to football activities just a toe in the water

The Oklahoma football program has been on virtual hiatus (no pun intended) for almost two months.

That’s no different than what any other college football team has had to contend with after all winter and spring sports programs were shuttered because of the COVID-19 outbreak. That’s all about to change, though.

As a first step in the re-opening process, the NCAA has cleared the way for college football players to voluntarily return to their campus training facilities beginning next week.

The Southeastern Conference has voted to allow football players to return their respective campuses for voluntary workouts beginning June 8. The Big Ten is leaving it up to the individual schools to decide when student-athletes can return. Ohio State has elected to open its facilities on June 8.

“Our medical personnel have told us that the safest thing we can do is keep our players off campus for as long as possible,” — OU head coach Lincoln Riley

Oklahoma announced this week that it isn’t going to allow its players to return for another month, electing to go with a more cautious approach.

“Our medical personnel have told us that the safest thing we can do is keep our players off campus for as long as possible,” Sooner head coach Lincoln Riley said in a press release posted on the OU athletic website.

“We chose the latest time we could bring them back and still have enough time to prepare.”

OU officials are probably wise to do so because of the continued health and safety concerns over unnecessary exposure to the coronavirus. Although Oklahoma’s voluntary workout schedule will be two to three-weeks behind what other Power Five conferences and teams are doing, the time difference really won’t amount to much as far as preparation for fall football is concerned.

Most players have been working out on their own and have received virtual instruction and guidance since the NCAA shut down all spring sports activities in mid-March following the widespread outbreak of the coronavirus.

And as Berry Tramel, sports columnist for The (Oklahoma City )Oklahoman pointed out in an article in the Tuesday edition of the newspaper, “The voluntary workouts are not the organized team workouts traditionally associated with summer and led by strength and conditioning coaches.”

The term “voluntary workouts” simply means the on-campus training facilities will be open to the student-athletes and they are able to utilize the facility for running, lifting weights and general conditioning. Support staff is allowed to be present but only for safety reasons and not to lead individual or group workouts.

Returning to campus is just the beginning, however, of what promises to be a slow and evolving process that will include a number of changes to the “business as usual” approach to getting ready for a new college football season.

Oklahoma football players will return for voluntary workouts beginning July 1.

When the players begin arriving on campus for voluntary workouts, they will be individually assessed by the medical staff before being allowed to join workouts.

A special campus location has been designated for testing of the coronavirus. If a student-athlete or staff member tests positive in the initial examination, a special dormitory on campus has been set aside to quarantine any infected individuals.

All facilities have been sanitized and properly disinfected and all facilities that are used by the players will be regularly cleaned and sanitized. The locker room will have specific cleaning procedures and special detergents will be used to thoroughly clean all workout clothing.

All individuals will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing rules. Special procedures will also be in place for use of restrooms, stairways, elevators and office meetings.

Initially, no workout groups will be permitted to include more than 10 individuals.

Training equipment will be cleaned prior to and following use.

In addition, surveillance cameras will be used throughout the facilities to ensure that all health and safety requirements are followed as instructed.

These are the steps and procedures that are being put in place upon the return of the student-athletes and re-opening the campus, but there are still many more issues to be addressed as the start of the season approaches.

For example, stadium operations for both the home and visiting teams, with or without fans. If fans are allowed for games at some point, how to handle ticket sales and how to apportion the fans in the stadium in accordance with social distancing requirements.

And then there is always going to be the concern associated with what happens to players who might test positive for coronavirus at some point in the season and how many others might have to be quarantined as a safety precaution as a result.

And these are just a few of the contingency situations that schools like Oklahoma have to plan for moving forward — hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.