Ohio State head coach Ryan Day calls plays from the sidelines in the second half of the Big Ten Championship game against Wisconsin Dec. 7. Ohio State won 34-21. Credit: Cori Wade | Lantern File Photo
Ohio State has not played a game yet, but the team is still fending off fatigue.
In 2020, the fatigue does not result from physical punishment taken throughout the course of a football season but rather from the constant attention that must be paid to COVID-19. Hesitant to call Ohio State’s efforts against the virus successful, head coach Ryan Day emphasized — as he has to his team every day — that they cannot let their guard down.
“To look at it as a success now would be premature because we still have two more months of it,” Day said Tuesday in a Zoom call. “This is not a week-to-week thing, it’s all the way until January, because we might be good for two or three weeks, four weeks, five weeks and then all of a sudden, we stub our toe and have an outbreak then we’re going to lose games — and we can’t afford to do that.”
Although the coronavirus pandemic has taken much away from the Buckeyes’ typical preseason routine, Day said that despite the fatigue he and the team feels from the guidelines caused by the pandemic, they need to continue to sacrifice in order to have a smooth running season.
“I said, ‘You guys may get tired of hearing it from me and you may not want to hear it every day but the minute you take a deep breath, the minute I don’t bring it up, it takes one day, one trip to the grocery store when you don’t have a mask on, or someone you’re exposed to — a friend or something like that,” Day said. “And then you’re at risk and then you’re not playing for three weeks and then you put the team at risk.”
The Big Ten’s guidelines surrounding positive tests could have a crippling effect on teams because if a player tests positive, they will be forced to sit out a minimum of 21 days before returning to play. Along with this, if a player shows signs for myocarditis — which is the inflammation of the heart muscle — Day said that a player could miss at least six weeks.
Although a positive test could have a negative impact on the team, Day stressed that it could also hurt the development of players, as they will be limited in what they can do within the program.
“When you’re out, it really hurts your development,” Day said. “When you’re sitting in quarantine for 10-to-14 days and you’re not doing anything, that’s not good for your development as a football player.”
If an Ohio State player is contact traced, Day said there are protocols in place to help a player both mentally and physically.
“We have certain things we do and we make sure they check-in with the mental health services that we provide,” Day said. “For those who have been contact traced and have not tested positive, they are able to work out and do different things.”
Day said that contact-traced players will not be allowed around the team, however.
Elsewhere in the college football landscape, the Florida-LSU and Cincinnati-Tulsa games, which were scheduled to be played this past Saturday, were postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
The Big Ten’s schedule calls for nine straight weeks of football for each team without bye weeks for breaks. In light of these recent postponements around college football, Day said he was unsure if the Big Ten would be able to make it the full season without an interruption, but expressed confidence that Ohio State would not be the cause of any stoppage.
“Our guys get it here. I can’t speak to the other schools because I’m just not there, but I feel strongly that our guys are serious about this,” Day said. “We’re gonna do everything we can to make sure we’re holding up our end of the bargain.”
In order to combat potential risks, Day said that families of coaches and players cannot enter the Woody Hayes Athletic Facility. This practice will extend to game days as families will not be able to interact with players and coaches following the game, according to a Big Ten rule.
Taking it a step further, Day said that some coaches have decided against staying in their own homes — in reaction to the risk posed by school-age children passing COVID-19 to their parents. Wearing a mask in the house and having more interactions with his family outside are a few ways Day said he has altered his life away from the Ohio State bubble.
“It’s a great feeling to know that in this building, when you’re around our bubble right here, you’re good,” Day said in an Oct. 2 Zoom call. “But once you leave here, everything changes. Honestly it’s scary because it can ruin your whole season just like that — one day with one exposure.”
Despite the prolonged offseason and the concerns surrounding the pandemic, the Buckeyes have finally reached game week, eight weeks after they were originally slated to begin their season.
As Ohio State gears up for the season opener, Day said the team is beginning to operate as if it were any other season.
“We’ve really kinda kicked into what it would be like game one, even though the weather is a little different than it would be,” Day said. “It’s time to play now and so that’s been the focus, it really hasn’t been about anything else.”
