Related content
Sports are back at UNLV — kind of.
For the first time since March, when the COVID-19 outbreak canceled all NCAA activities and forced all athletics to shutter, some student-athletes were allowed to return to campus on Monday. Football players were among those cleared to return for voluntary workouts after going through a two-week quarantine, a coronavirus test and other health and safety protocols.
The circumstances aren’t normal, but after a week of workouts it looks like the Rebels are firmly back in offseason mode.
Five takeaways from the first week of voluntary workouts:
No one has tested positive for COVID-19
The first and most pressing issue, of course, is the health of the players. UNLV has instituted new safety and sanitation protocols designed to minimize risk of infection, and so far it has held up. First-year head coach Marcus Arroyo said no one in the program — player, coach or administrative staff — has tested positive for COVID-19.
Half the team is now on campus
Arroyo said nearly the entire roster is now in the Las Vegas area, with some players still going through their two-week local quarantine before they can return to campus. But approximately half the team has finished up their quarantine and are now currently able to work out on campus.
“This first week we’ve had upwards of 40 to 60 guys rotating through [the facilities],” Arroyo said. “It’s been great. I think having the opportunity for these guys to come back to their facility is a really good deal.”
Players are enthusiastic
Between the coronavirus and widespread racial tensions, it has been a stressful time for young, black athletes. Arroyo said getting back to campus and getting back to football-related activities has been a welcome development for the players.
Though there’s not much actual football work going on — most of the voluntary workouts are limited to conditioning and weights — it’s a step in the right direction.
“The thing that I’m seeing and hearing most is an excitement to be back, and it starts in a place where they feel some normalcy,” Arroyo said. “I think that’s all we can ask for. We’ve developed an open and honest line of communication with [the players], and these guys are excited to get back.”
Coaches are calling an audible
The entire offseason has been an exercise in flying blind, as no coaches, players or administrators have any experience dealing with this type of situation. Arroyo is admittedly in the same boat.
“It’s completely different,” Arroyo said. “First of all, I don’t know what it’s like to be a head coach in an offseason, because I haven’t been. But I’ve been a coach for a long time. I know what this time [of the offseason] looks like, normally, and this isn’t it.”
The key, Arroyo said, has been flexibility. He and his staff have tried to adapt to the changing circumstances, and that continued into the first week of voluntary workouts. The team has conducted Zoom meetings to keep everyone connected as they phase in their offseason plans.
He said the players have stayed disciplined despite the uncertainty.
“Everything we planned is different,” Arroyo said. “You can have coaches who have coached for 25 years, and they haven’t seen anything like this, so it’s brand new to everybody. I didn’t flinch in trying to find a way to overcome it and embrace change and find a way.”
Leadership has been key
It has been a long offseason, and coaches haven’t been able to take a hands-on role in guiding the players through it. That has shifted the responsibility to the players themselves to stay engaged.
Arroyo credited the leadership of the player class for getting the team through the offseason and into the first wave of voluntary workouts.
“The leadership of the team, to be able to pull together and to buy into Zooms for three months and virtual workouts and apps on their phone to get it done, I think it showed a lot about the fiber of our team right now,” Arroyo said. “It’s encouraging to see how much they’ve grown in three months and become closer at a time when many believed you couldn’t do that.”
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy