As unusual camp approaches, Drinkwitz sticking to the plan
The outlook on Missouri’s 2020 football season has changed a lot since head coach Eliah Drinkwitz last spoke to the media. During that virtual press conference on July 15, Drinkwitz said he looked forward to getting Missouri ready for its season-opener against Central Arkansas on Sept. 5.
Since then, the SEC has scrapped non-conference play, pivoting to a 10-game schedule beginning Sept. 26. Missouri traded in its four non-conference matchups for tests against LSU and Alabama. And Tuesday, the college football world was rocked when both the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced that they would postpone the football season until the spring, citing health concerns for student-athletes amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In the face of all that turmoil, some have questioned how the SEC could go ahead with fall camp practices, scheduled to start Monday. Speaking to reporters via Zoom on Wednesday, Drinkwitz said he intends to simply stick to the plans — both those devised by school health officials and the SEC.
“I have no idea what the future is going to hold for college football,” Drinkwitz said. “Every day, it seems like the information is changing. But I'm excited about the stance that Greg Sankey and our leadership in the SEC, grateful for the leadership of the ACC and the Big 12 for allowing us to continue to pursue the plans that we have for a 2020 season. There's gonna be a lot of challenges ahead. I don't think we're all the way through all of them. But we're doing everything we possibly can to try to make this season successful, and we'll continue to do that, and our team has been tremendous in doing those things.”
While Drinkwitz expressed sympathy for the student-athletes impacted by the decisions to postpone fall sports in the Big Ten and Pac-12, he questioned the logic of pulling the plug on a fall season so soon. He praised Sankey for being deliberate in forming a plan and consistent in sticking to it.
“I can't believe we're looking at our watch on Aug. 12 and we've got people that are saying we're not playing football on Sept. 26,” he said. “I mean that's like the St. Louis Cardinals are canceling the doubleheader on a Sunday because it's forecasted to rain, and we're talking about it on Wednesday.”
Now that the SEC has made clear its intentions to go ahead with a season, the question becomes how Missouri will go about preparing for a rigorous 10-game slate after an extended offseason — all while knowing that a virus breakout within the team could trigger the suspension of workouts, at a minimum.
Drinkwitz did express concern about his ability to get players into game shape during the allotted 25 camp practices. Not only did most players leave campus and return home from mid-March to early June, several had their voluntary workouts, which began June 8, interrupted by quarantines triggered by positive tests, contact tracing or travel.
“I'm extremely concerned, and I've told everybody they have to be ready,” Drinkwitz said. “We're only going to get 25 practices over the next 40-something days. … And so there's not going to be a lot of back to back and conditioning. We’ve got to give them two days off a week. So it's going to be interesting to see what kind of shape. And nobody's ever done this before, nobody’s played 10 SEC games before, so it's going to be a battle of wills.”
For now, however, game shape is secondary. If Missouri can’t keep the virus at bay, the chances of making it to Sept. 26 without before a cancelation seem remote. Fortunately, Drinkwitz believes Missouri is equipped to do so.
Since players returned to campus, Drinkwitz noted, less than three percent have tested positive for COVID-19. That’s well below the rates for Boone Country or the state of Missouri. He also said that contact tracing among those who have tested positive haven’t identified any instances of infection spreading within the football facility. No players have opted out of the upcoming season due to safety concerns.
Drinkwitz attributed that success to a litany of protocols the team has instituted. Those measures have allowed the team to hold in-person position group and team meetings, with each player wearing a mask and remaining six feet apart and meetings lasting 15 minutes or fewer. Players have even been able to line up in formation during walk-throughs over the past two weeks.
“As far as our walk-through goes, we have those gaiters on,” Drinkwitz explained. “If your helmet’s not on, your gaiter’s on. If your helmet’s on, they have those mandated face shields that cover your face, and we were able to line up in formations against each other and go against each other and had zero cases of transmission.”
While Drinkwitz acknowledged that it’s unlikely the team could go an entire season without having any cases of virus transmission within the facility, he’s confident Missouri can carry its health into fall camp, even as students return to campus. He said the staff floated the idea of trying to put players in a bubble during camp, similar to the NBA and NHL, but found the idea unrealistic for college students. “The problem with the bubble is, you know, somebody leaves and goes and gets lemon pepper wings at a particular establishment, it could ruin the whole bubble,” Drinkwitz quipped, referring to Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams.
Instead, he’s preached personal accountability to his players, such as avoiding “local establishments” on Friday nights. Given the team’s low infection rate so far, they seem to be heeding his words. Their ability to do so could play a part in determining whether they’ll get to line up opposite another team in 2020.
“My message to our team has been the same message,” Drinkwitz said. “You control what you can control. If you go out to said local establishments — I'm not gonna throw anybody under the bus — on Friday night, then you're gonna put your team, yourself and our team in jeopardy. But if you can avoid those places, then you’ve got an opportunity to be successful.”
Sanctions still a factor
As if this offseason hasn't been challenging enough for Drinkwitz, he noted that Missouri is still dealing with the sanctions Imposed by the NCAA In January as a result of a tutoring scandal. The most evident consequence is the team's scholarship reduction — instead of its usual 85 scholarship players, Missouri only has 81 for the 2020 season.
Less visible to the average fan but perhaps equally impactful has been the recruiting sanctions. The staff faced a seven-week ban on recruiting interactions and evaluations as well as a decrease in official and unofficial visit days. While the NCAA's ban on recruiting visits may exempt the Tigers from the decrease in visits, the staff has still had to break up the seven weeks of no contact into week-long chunks. Drinkwitz said Wednesday he hadn't talked to any recruits in the past seven days as a result of the sanctions.
"I know that we've gotten a lot of publicity for how well we're recruiting, but it really has been a challenge to continue to face NCAA restrictions," Drinkwitz said. "We've got a seven-week, zero contact. We’ve been working through those, but that's an extreme challenge
Injury report
With Missouri set to kick off camp next week, Drinkwitz delivered his first injury report as the Tigers' coach on Wednesday. The team will be without three players for the entirety of camp.
Senior offensive lineman Angel Matute, who joined the Tigers from Mt. San Antonio junior college prior to last season, will medically redshirt and miss the entire year. Drinkwitz didn't specify Matute's injury. Junior defensive end Jatorian Hansford underwent offseason shoulder surgery. While Drinkwitz didn't have a timeline for Hansford's return, he said he will miss all of camp. Finally, true freshman offensive lineman Mitchell Walters suffered what Drinkwitz called a "broken lower extremity." As a result, Walters seems certain to sit out and redshirt this season.