12
Thursday, July 9, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Harbaugh optimistic
about fall sports season
When
Jim
Harbaugh
sat
down in front of his computer
Wednesday afternoon for his first
press conference of 2020, he knew
the looming question would be
one he’s never faced during his
16-year head coaching career.
Normally around this time, he
would be joining the Big Ten’s 13
other head coaches in Chicago to
talk about quarterback battles,
how the freshmen look and who’s
in the best shape of their lives.
This year, of course, isn’t normal.
There are no Big Ten media
days and come early September,
there may not even be a season
— an ever-growing possibility as
COVID-19 cases escalate across
the country.
But with that scheduled start of
the season just over eight weeks
away and 50,304 new coronavirus
cases confirmed in the US on
Tuesday, Harbaugh re-affirmed
his hope for the season to unfold
as planned.
“If students are on campus,
then my personal belief as a
parent of a daughter who would
also be on campus is that this is
a safe place,” Harbaugh said. “As
safe as possible, would be within
the University, in our athletic
buildings and complexes. The
safety precautions that have been
put into place, I would feel good
with the medical oversight of
the students, student athletes. I
would want the responsibility.”
Harbaugh acknowledged the
importance of that caveat — if
students are on campus — saying
“it’s a different conversation if
there’s no students on campus.”
This week, it’s an especially
relevant caveat with Rutgers
becoming the first Big Ten school
to announce its classes will be
almost entirely online in the fall.
And with new cases on the rise
in every Big Ten state, the Scarlet
Knights could just be the first
domino to fall.
For now, though, Michigan
and most teams on its planned
12-game schedule are holding
firm on plans to hold at least some
classes in person. And if that’s the
case, Harbaugh wants football to
follow, issuing the controversial
and now viral statement that
“COVID is part of our society.
Wasn’t caused by football or
caused by sports. And there’s no
expert view right now that I’m
aware of that sports is going to
make that worse. It’s part of our
society, we’re going to have to deal
with it.”
Of course, the virus wasn’t
caused by football — a truth
that doesn’t negate the dangers
of hundreds of college athletes
congregating each day and then
returning to their communities,
unlike professional athletes in
leagues that plan to resume their
seasons in isolated bubbles.
Harbaugh, though, isn’t an
epidemiologist. His focus isn’t on
viral diseases, it’s on his team and
his players.
“I share the same opinion as our
players,” Harbaugh said. “They
want to play. As I said, they’ve
been training their whole lives
for this and these opportunities.
Put the question to them, which I
have, they would rather play than
not play.”
That single-minded focus is
why Harbaugh remained mum on
the possibility of a spring season.
It’s why, when asked about the
likelihood of playing Washington
in Seattle on Sept. 5, he said, “Not
gonna offer my personal opinion.
Athletic
directors,
presidents,
school presidents and the medical
experts can decide what’s best
there.”
A
notably
different
approach than what he took when
asked of the virus as a whole.
But what he is doing is making
sure his players are doing what
they can: wearing masks and
following
social
distancing
protocols put in place by health
officials and athletic department
specialists. “They’ve been really
great about following those,”
Harbaugh said. “I think they
really understand there’s great
value
to
keeping
their
own
personal health but that of their
teammates.”
The point of all that? To get to
Harbaugh’s ultimate goal: have a
season.
“The scenario that they’re
playing is the one that you’re
hoping and praying for,” Harbaugh
said. “These youngsters have put
in a lot of training, really their
whole lives, for these moments.”
ETHAN SEARS/Daily
Coach Jim Harbaugh sparked fierce reactions with his comments on COVID-19.
THEO MACKIE
Managing Sports Editor
FOOTBALL
Jim
Harbaugh
went
viral
on
Twitter
Wednesday.
“Michigan
head
coach
Jim Harbaugh
doesn’t think
playing sports
will
make
the
COVID-
19 outbreak worse,” screamed the
Twitter moment.
“COVID is part of our society,”
he said in a Zoom call with media
earlier in the day. “Wasn’t caused
by football or caused by sports. And
there’s no expert view right now
that I’m aware of that sports is going
to make that worse. It’s part of our
society, we’re going to have to deal
with it.”
The uproar was predictable.
Except, well, that wasn’t really
what he said. At least, it wasn’t all of
what he said. Or even close to all of
what he said. Here’s all of what he
said:
“Yeah, my thoughts would be, it’s
a different conversation if there’s no
students on campus. If students are
on campus, then my personal belief
as a parent of a daughter who would
also be on campus that this is a safe
place. As safe as possible, would
be within the University, in our
athletic buildings and complexes.
That safety precautions that have
been put into place.
“I would feel good with the
medical oversight of the students,
student athletes. I would want
the responsibility. I would want
the responsibility of keeping our
players safe and also educating
them. I would not want to come off
of that guard tower of educating
and keeping our players safe.
“Now, if it comes to a point in
time where you say that we can’t
play, it’s obvious, it’s clear, then
everybody would be reasonable and
know that was the right thing to do.
COVID is part of our society. Wasn’t
caused by football or caused by
sports. And there’s no expert view
right now that I’m aware of 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’ve got to go to
school. They’ve trained their whole
lives for the opportunity to play
their sport. That is my view with the
knowledge that we have and time to
learn more about it. It would be my
responsibility, our responsibility
and the players’ responsibility also,
to keep themselves safe and get the
schooling and training that they
need.”
That doesn’t sound like a football
coach putting himself ahead of
unpaid kids so he can make money
amid a pandemic.
It sounds like someone who’s
spent the last four months talking
every day to people about whether
or not a football season will happen
and if so, how it can happen. It
sounds like the parent of an athlete
(as well as another student) at the
University — cautious, but willing
to go along with the plan in place.
It sounds like that because that’s
exactly what it is.
I’m tired of this song and dance
we do every time Harbaugh gives
his actual opinion on something.
Frankly, it makes me understand
why he often goes out of his way
to not say anything interesting. It’s
exhausting.
That’s not to say he should get
a free pass to say whatever he
wants. If you want to rip Harbaugh
for suggesting football might be
possible, that’s fine. Football might
well not be possible. I don’t know
and neither does he. But criticize in
context.
He noted the importance of
students being on campus, which
University President Mark Schissel
and
Athletic
Director
Warde
Manuel have said is a must if football
is to happen. Harbaugh noted the
safety precautions in place, both
in athletic buildings and the rest
of the University, and it’s clear that
if Michigan’s reopening plan fails,
it will almost certainly be due to
behavior that happens outside the
purview of those guidelines.
He’s probably wrong in saying
no expert thinks sports will make
it worse …. but an epidemiologist
told The Athletic the risk is hard
to quantify if students are already
on campus, and might be mitigated
by extra testing. So at minimum,
there’s certainly no consensus
over whether sports would make it
worse.
“Jim Harbaugh doesn’t think
playing sports will make the
COVID-19
outbreak
worse,”
obviously sounds a lot better than,
“Jim Harbaugh is optimistic that
football season can happen safely if
players and coaches follow extensive
safety protocols that will be in place
if universities allow students back
for in-person learning.” Maybe that
better explains the issue than the
last 700 words of this column.
Here’s the thing, though. If
doctors and epidemiologists tell
him it isn’t safe, Harbaugh won’t
marshal 130 players and staff onto
a plane to Seattle so Michigan can
play Washington on Sept. 5. One
source told The Daily that game is
highly unlikely to happen, which
comports with, well, basic logic.
Though he won’t say it publicly,
Harbaugh surely knows that, too.
While Twitter was ripping him to
shreds, here’s what else Harbaugh
said about the novel coronavirus
and how it’s affecting his team:
“I’d say the biggest question
I’m really getting from our players
is how they can be a part of the
solution. A lot of the feedback has
been that their peers, other people
in their age group, are somewhat
or very cavalier about the virus.
How it affects that age group. Their
response has been they want to be
ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
ETHAN
SEARS
Another out-of-context Harbaugh
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