Nothing about the 2020 college football season can be called, or even compared to, normal. This week has provided the most jarring evidence yet, as the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponed their fall sports seasons until spring as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even for Missouri, which along with the rest of the SEC has made clear its intention to have a fall season, players can’t really compare this offseason to any in the past.
“We have a new coaching staff, new everything, so nothing that we know as normal is normal,” linebacker Jamal Brooks said. “Everything's different.”
“This is unprecedented,” added slot receiver Barrett Banister. “This has never happened. So obviously it kind of toys with you a little bit. It messes with your routine that we've had going for however long we've been playing ball.”
On top of bringing in a new coaching staff and trying to find a new starting quarterback, Missouri has seen its spring practices curtailed, its summer calendar disrupted, its start of fall camp postponed and its season altered due to the coronavirus. The team has spent a grand total of one practice in pads since Eliah Drinkwitz took over as head coach more than eight months ago. Then, Sunday and Monday, it looked like the season might get canceled before it could start, as rumors circulated that the other Power Five leagues might follow the lead of the Big Ten and Pac-12 by punting on a fall season. Several Missouri players, including Brooks, reacted on social media, posting the hashtag #WeWantToPlay.
But despite all the upheaval, the three seniors who spoke to reporters Thursday — Banister, Brooks and offensive lineman Case Cook — said the Tigers’ focus has remained intact. All expressed optimism that the team will be ready when it kicks off a 10-game, SEC-only schedule Sept. 26.
“If we get a chance to play football, we're going to be ready to go,” Brooks said. “I truly believe that.”
During a typical August, players would be consumed with football almost around the clock. Fall camp means long practices in the morning followed by weight lifting, film sessions and position group meetings in the afternoons. This year isn’t entirely different — Banister noted that there has still been plenty of football-related activity in the team’s “mini-camp,” the 20 hours a week practices sans equipment that have been allowed the past two weeks.
But even when camp officially kicks off on Monday, the Missouri players will have to balance the rigors of getting in shape and learning a new offense with another, arguably more important objective: preventing a COVID-19 outbreak.
Players didn’t shy away from acknowledging that cases are expected to spike as the student body returns to campus. As a result, it will be especially important for them to avoid settings like parties or bars where the virus is most likely to spread. Brooks said senior defensive tackle Kobie Whiteside has been a leader in calling his teammates to be accountable.
“I think everybody's kind of expecting another outbreak when school kind of starts,” Brooks said. “... I think that if everybody at Mizzou does what Mizzou asks them to do — wearing a mask, wash your hands, just the little things — I think we will come out on the right side of things, where we want to be.”
Virus-prevention measures have changed the way players operate within the facility, as well. Players are required to wear masks and remain six feet apart while in the facility. During workouts, they wear gaiter masks unless donning a helmet, all of which are outfitted with plastic shields over the facemasks. Banister noted that activities like lifting that were previously done by the whole team at the same time are now broken up into smaller groups. There have been other subtle changes, too; for instance, players can’t max out in the weight room because it wouldn’t be sanitary to have spotters hovering over or behind them.
But as important as preventing an outbreak may be to the Tigers’ season, it can’t be their sole focus. Classes resume Aug. 24. Meanwhile, the team has just 25 practices to prepare for a grueling schedule that includes matchups with four teams ranked in the top eight of the preseason coaches’ poll. Drinkwitz admitted Wednesday that he is "very concerned" about getting everybody in game shape over the next seven weeks.
With an entirely new slate of position coaches, the offense, in particular, looks to face a steep challenge. But even amid the constant concern over protocols and speculation about whether games will be played, Banister said the offensive staff has made good progress installing the new scheme. He said players were introduced to the playbook prior to spring practices and the staff began implementing it during recent walk-throughs, so all that’s left is getting reps and developing cohesion at full speed.
“That mini-camp that they gave to us was really kind of a big and important thing,” he said. “We were kind of able to go through all the installs once and do some walk-throughs with that, and so that made us a lot more comfortable with what we were trying to get done. And then obviously we'll go back in the start of camp and go back over all those installs again, so it'll be our second or third time seeing them. So I think it's not as stressful or overwhelming as some people may think.”
Cook, one of just two returning players with more than two starts to his name on the offensive line, a position dependent on chemistry, echoed Banister’s optimism. Cook said the linemen’s duties aren’t all that different under new position coach Marcus Johnson, and despite not playing together much in game settings, the group might actually be more cohesive than seasons past because players have hung out together so much outside of practice.
“Since we've been spending so much time with each other outside of the building with just us, and then inside the building, obviously, I think our chemistry has been really great so far,” Cook said. “Compared to a normal season, obviously, it's a little weird. We started a lot later, so that part's been a little weird to adjust to, just like the spacing and the timing with everything. But honestly going into it, ... I don't think it's any different than any other year.”
Even as camp kicks off next week, Missouri’s preparation for the 2020 season will continue to feel different than any offseason players can remember. But while the steps to get there may look different than in past years, the goal remains the same. As long as they’re allowed to play, players said, when the ball is kicked off Sept. 26, they’ll be ready.
“That decision is not up to us,” Banister said. “We can play a part in it by just doing our job with social distancing and wearing a mask and all that, but at the end of the day, that's out of our control, and we just got to go prepare for what's been laid out in front of us, and that's this 10-SEC game schedule.”
