North Carolina football players contgratulate head coach Mack Brown after they dumpedd a bucket of water on him in the final seconds against the N.C. State Wolfpack at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019. UNC (6-6, 4-4 ACC) defeated NCST (4-4, 1-7 ACC) 41-10 to become bowl-eligle in Brown's first year back as a head coach and the first time since 2016. They also defeated their rivals for the first time since 2015.
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UNC Football Coach Mack Brown Discusses Return to Campus Roadmap

Landon Bost

CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina Athletics Department announced its return to campus roadmap earlier today, Friday, May 29, amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Facilities personnel return to campus next Monday, June 1, in preparation for the return of coaches and athletes. Football, men’s and women’s basketball coaches and staff members, and the first group of football players return to campus June 12, for COVID-19 testing.

Those who test positive will be sent home to quarantine; those who initially test negative will be retested after 7-8 days, and again if they become symptomatic.

UNC Football will bring back its football players in small groups – June. 15, 22 and 29 – and they will be instructed to follow strict social distancing measures such as wearing a mask in the facility.

“It’s really important that we all go by this protocol,” Brown said.

“We’ll talk to them about honoring people’s differences. Some people aren’t worried about virus. Some people think it’s nothing, it’s just the flu, and they don’t want to wear a mask. Well, we’ve asked all of ours to do what our doctors have told us to do. Because if there’s one person that does feel like it’s very important for everybody to wear a mask, then everybody should wear one. And we’ve got to honor that.”

Brown said that people will have their temperature checked every day before entering Kenan Stadium. People are encouraged to let someone know if they’re feeling under the weather and they won’t be penalized for calling out sick.

The decision on which football players return to campus first is a dilemma for Brown.

He would like to bring players in groups with people they will interact with the most. Players with on-campus housing will live in individual rooms in Parker Residence Hall once they return to campus.

Another factor is their current physical health and access to healthy food and proper training at home.

“Do they have great rehabilitation facilities, a doctor, a trainer, that they’re working with at home and everything’s working great,” said the head coach who now walks three miles a day and is arguably in the best shape of his life in the past 25 years.

“If it is, we probably wouldn’t bring them back. If they’re not going to play next fall anyway, we probably wouldn’t bring them back because they’ll have time to rehab. Or if they’re not in a position where they can come back or where they can rehabilitate like they should at their own place, then we really consider bringing them back.”

Brown has a similar dilemma with bringing veteran vs. newcomers back first. He has already told his team that what group they’re a part of has zero indication on their depth chart position.

Except for meetings, which are still via zoom, the only football activity that is allowed until July 1 is weightlifting. The NCAA Oversight Committee recommends a 6-week practice period before the season start, but details haven’t been released to coaches at the moment.

The next step for Brown and his coaching staff is figuring out how they can train while practicing social distancing.

“[The coaches] talked a lot this morning since it’s real that we’re coming back now about our football drills at practice,” Brown said.

“I used to tell the players, ‘I want you all together to talk about an offensive-line play at one time. Well, that’s changed now. They’re gonna have to spread apart, and we’re really leaning heavily on the medical experts to tell us exactly what we can do and what we can’t do.”

Below is UNC’s Athletics’ current roadmap.

Current Schedule
Team / Personnel Date Action
Facilities  June 1, 2020 Clean, disinfect and prepare all department facilities. Community protective equipment (CPE) and cleaning supplies will be allocated to ensure proper distribution and availability
Sports Medicine June 8, 2020 Prepare for student-athlete arrival
Football coaches and staff, Men’s and Women’s Basketball coaches and staff, and Group 1 football student-athletes June 12, 2020 Return for COVID-19 testing. Testing for Men’s and Women’s Basketball coaches and staff may be delayed based upon alternative return dates.
Football coaches, staff, and Group 1 football student-athletes June 15, 2020 Prepare for the 2020 season and begin assessments and physical conditioning
Men’s and Women’s Basketball coaches and staff June 15, 2020
(tentative)		 Prepare for return of teams and the 2020-21 academic year
Athletics Director’s Office, Equipment staff, Strength and Conditioning coaches June 15, 2020 Prepare for 2020-21 academic year and return of teams and personnel
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men’s and Women’s Soccer and Volleyball coaches and staff and Group 2 Football student-athletes June 19, 2020 Return for COVID-19 Testing
Group 2 Football student-athletes  June 22, 2020 Begin assessments and physical conditioning
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men’s and Women’s Soccer and Volleyball coaches and staff June 22, 2020 Prepare for return of teams and the 2020-21 academic year
Group 3 Football student-athletes June 26, 2020 Return for COVID-19 testing
June 29, 2020 Begin assessments and physical conditioning
All remaining Football student-athletes June 29, 2020 Return for COVID-19 testing
July 1, 2020 Begin assessments and physical conditioning
Men’s and Women’s Basketball student-athletes July 6, 2020 Return for COVID-19 testing
July 8, 2020 Begin assessments and physical conditioning 
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men’s and Women’s Soccer, and Volleyball student-athletes July 13, 2020 Return for COVID-19 testing
July 15, 2020 Begin assessments and physical conditioning
All additional winter and spring sport coaches and staff (Baseball, Men’s and Women’s Fencing, Men’s and Women’s Golf, Gymnastics, Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse, Rowing, Softball, Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Men’s and Women’s Track and Field, and Wrestling) August 3, 2020 Prepare for return of teams and the 2020-21 academic year
All additional department units and ASPSA August 3, 2020 Prepare for the 2020-21 academic year and return to full operations
All additional winter and spring sport student-athletes (Baseball, Men’s and Women’s Fencing, Men’s and Women’s Golf, Gymnastics, Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse, Rowing, Softball, Swimming and Diving, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Track and Field, and Wrestling) Beginning the week of August 3, 2020 according to the campus schedule for all students  Return to begin the 2020-21 academic year and begin assessments and physical conditioning 

 

Feature image courtesy of Landon Bost.