There's still very much uncertainty surrounding the fall college football season given the coronavirus pandemic, but one thing is certain — Michigan's players want to play.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh is on board with them assuming all necessary precautions are taken to ensure everyone's health. He told reporters in a Wednesday Zoom call he was on board with moving forward.
"If students are on campus, my personal belief as a parent of a daughter who would also be on campus, that this is a safe place ... safe as possible within our university, in our athletic buildings and complexes," Harbaugh said. "The safety precautions that have been put in place ... I would feel good with he medical oversight of student athletes, students in general."
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He's also embraced the responsibility of keeping his players safe and educating them, he added, though many of them have done a great job of that themselves.
"I would not want to come off that guard tower of educating and keeping our players safe," he said. ..."Now, if it comes to a point in time where you say we can't play, it's obvious, it's clear, then everybody would be reasonable and it's the right thing to do.
"[But] Covid is part of our society. It wasn't caused by football or sports. There's no expert view right now I'm aware of, agreeing expert views, that sports is going to make that worse. It's part of our society. We're going to have to deal with it. These kids are going to have to do the same thing. They have to go to school, and they've been training their whole lives ... it would be my responsibility, our responsibility and the players' responsibility also to keep themselves safe and get the schooling and the training they need."
The most frequent question he got from most of them this spring was whether or not would be football in the spring. Now, he said, it's what they can do to ensure they are responsible and be part of the solution to the pandemic. Many of their friends and peers in their age group have been "somewhat or very" cavalier about it, they've told him, and they want to be "a force for good" and a positive example when they're on campus.
Strict protocols have been put in place and they're following all of them, Harbaugh added, noting the health of the team has been "really good." Every student-athlete that's returned to campus, including football, men's and women's basketball and others, has been tested.
Only two have come back positive and none since the initial return weeks ago.
"There haven't been any symptoms since; nobody has tested positive since. So far, so good," Harbaugh said. "I really trust the protocols that have been put in place ... all doctors have been in weekly contact with us, if not daily in many cases. I believe and trust in protocols and how our student-athletes reacting. They're trying to set a great example and keep themselves, teammates and others safe when out in the community. They've been really good that way."
That includes valuing their own health as well as their teammates' and other people in the community. They wear masks when they're in public, socially distance, are cooking their own food and setting the example.
Harbaugh said he'd leave it up to the medical experts, school presidents and athletic directors to decide what the fall schedule will look like — there's been plenty of chatter the Washington game won't happen and that a more regional schedule will be implemented — but he's fully on board with playing this fall.
"I share the same opinion as our players. They want to play," he said. "They've been training their whole lives for this and these opportunities, and if you put the question to them, which I have, they would rather play than not play and rather play with no fans than to not play.
"The scenario that they're playing is the one you're hoping and praying for. As I said, these youngsters have put in a lot of training, their whole lives for these moments. Is it possible, would we support (different scenarios)? Yes. I think the athletic directors and administration, Big Ten, the coaches have all had those conversations and will continue to have those. Exactly what the schedule will be, when we kick off, all those things, hopefully there's an announcement made in the coming weeks this month."
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