How the coronavirus has affected Auburn with spring football on hold
Auburn was supposed to wrap up its first week of spring football practices this weekend.
Instead, the Tigers’ athletics facilities sit empty. There’s no telling if or when spring practice will begin. A-Day is canceled.
The coronavirus pandemic effectively shut down the sports world last week. The NCAA Tournament was canceled, and world soccer has been put on hold for the foreseeable future.
Auburn football was no exception.
The SEC has canceled all spring sports. And spring football practice is on pause for now, which means less reps for players before the 2020 season. That’s if this situation clears up enough for the season to begin on time.
“We’re going through unprecedented times right now,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “And it seems like things are changing daily.”
Spring practice remains a possibility, for now
Malzahn said the staff let players know last Thursday not to return to campus, and to instead return home. The staff briefly met Monday to finalize a plan to work remotely.
Currently, all Auburn players are healthy, the coach said. The staff has stressed the importance of social distancing and hand washing.
Football, though, is on the back burner.
While A-Day is off the calendar, the possibility remains for spring football practice, though Malzahn made it clear Wednesday that his concerns are non-football related for the time being.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said during a Wednesday teleconference that the cancellation of spring sports does not apply to spring football practices at this time — only spring games and Pro Days.
Other athletics activities, including team and individual practices, meetings and other organized gatherings — required or voluntary — remain suspended through at least April 15.
“We have said no athletic activities through April 15,” Sankey said. “That doesn’t mean we’ll be back to normal or to practice activities April 16, it was just a date that allows our administrators to communicate with our coaches, our coaches with their student athletes, has resulted in the departures from campus.”
Sankey said that he’s not going to be “overly optimistic” about the return to practice, and that while the SEC has not fully foreclosed the opportunity, the window is “pretty narrow.”
Work(out) from home
Malzahn couldn’t elaborate much on his plans to have players work out remotely, as it’s still to early in the process to have a concrete plan.
The staff will meet each Monday and Friday to talk through things, and “at the right time, we’ll be prepared to move forward with that.”
“Right now, with social distancing, weight rooms aren’t where you’re supposed to be,” Malzahn said. “So, really, each week, we will come up with different plans that are appropriate at the appropriate time.
“We’re encouraging our players to use social distancing and not be around other people.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
