UNC head football coach Mack Brown met with the media via Zoom on Friday, where he discussed the plan laid out by the university athletic department for returning student-athletes, coaches and staff members to campus.
All athletic facilities will undergo extensive cleaning and sanitation beginning on June 1, in preparation for the return of the football coaching staff on June 12. The first of four groups of players will also arrive on June 12, with each of the next three groups of players returning on June 19, June 26 and June 29 respectively.
Over that 18-day span, nearly 120 players will be making their way back to campus. All players who typically live on campus will have their own single rooms at Parker Residence Hall, Brown said, while those who stay off campus will continue to do so.
The coaching staff has taken into account many factors when determining which players will come back at which times.
“Our poor staff, we met for an hour fifteen, hour and a half this morning and I told them, talk to the players,” Brown said. “Who is better off here than they are at home? Who’s having trouble eating at home that could get more nourishment here? Who doesn’t have a place to workout at home so you’ll be safer here? So, we’re looking at the housing, but we’re also looking at the individuals.”
Players who live together will likely be brought in together as a safety precaution, allowing them to be tested at the same time and to share the same living space without fear of someone else infecting them upon their return to campus.
The NCAA has yet to make a decision on when teams will actually be allowed to have on-field practices or in-person meetings, leaving the Tar Heels to still meet virtually through Zoom until at least June 29.
“They can come by and say hello to their coaches after a workout, but they can’t have in-person football meetings,” Brown said. “Those meetings still have to be in Zoom.”
Player-led practices or workouts are allowed by the NCAA during this time, but coaches are not allowed to participate.
“We’re all waiting on the NCAA oversight committee,” Brown said. “All activities are dead except weight lifting with [strength and conditioning] coach (Brian) Hess until July 1. There’s been a proposed six-week plan from the AFCA and from a lot of different conferences that has been sent to the NCAA to look at. So, we’re kind of waiting to see.”
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