As the Michigan High School Athletic Association implements its plan for the return of high school athletics, many football programs around the state are starting their processes to get back to football, while not being able to play actual football.
Here is a look at how two Catholic High School League rivals are preparing for the upcoming football season without pads or contact.
Making due
As Dan Anderson looked at his football team — separated six feet apart in seven rows between the 10- and 50-yard line of the Detroit Catholic Central football field — he said it was like being like a kid in a candy store.
“Words can’t describe it,” the Shamrocks head coach said. “It’s good to be out here with the boys and see the boys working hard.”
After months of Zoom calls and meetings with his players, the Catholic Central football team returned to the field this week, physically preparing for a season scheduled to start Aug. 27 against Chippewa Valley.
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But this training looks different than it has in years past.
Players are not allowed inside and are using all aspects of the football stadium on the campus in Novi. Student groups of 100 or less will train outside with minimal equipment used, with all coaches present wearing masks.
“We have the parking lot as our locker room and every kid has their own parking space,” Anderson said.
With the MHSAA's “return-to-play” phased plan, which started June 2, players are not permitted to perform football drills or practice. And the weight room, usually a key aspect to offseason training, is closed for the immediate future.
Instead, the Shamrocks coaching staff were focusing on conditioning, Anderson’s plan of finding a way to “adapt and overcome.”
The Catholic Central football captains sent out “captains’ workouts” periodically during the stay-at-home periods, encouraging teammates to stay in shape and ready for whenever in-person training began.
“By the looks of the kids, they did it,” Anderson said. “They look in good shape right now.”
Catholic Central junior quarterback Declan Byle said the limitations are a bit discouraging, but that he is now just focused on the positives of the situation the Shamrocks are in.
“I’m just grateful we can be out here in June because if you told me two months ago that we would be out here working out in the summer, I might not have believed you,” Byle said.
Byle said he thinks the entire state of Michigan is behind in terms of preparation for the upcoming football season. However, with the effort the faculty and coaching staff has put to bringing players back into a safe environment, Byle said the Shamrocks will be ready.
“I think we will be two steps ahead of everyone else,” Byle said.
'It's not habitual'
When you enter the football field during a practice, there are things that are normal to hear: the sound of a whistle, the bark of a coach yelling, “Don’t walk on my field.”
However, wearing a Brother Rice boater hat and a mask over his face, head coach Adam Korzeniewski had to continue to repeat messages that brought reality back to those on the football field.
“Space out,” he repeated to coaches and players alike. “It’s not what we have been known to do.”
Along with the message imploring social distancing, Korzeniewski reminded players and coaches to wipe down equipment and sanitize weights and dumbbells before someone else touches it with spray bottles and paper towels accessible on the sideline.
Korzeniewski described himself as the “watchdog,” urging his staff and team to keep these things at the back of their mind.
“It’s not habitual,” Korzeniewski said. “It’s not the first thing they think about when they are here. I feel bad for them.”
For the most part, though, the Brother Rice head coach saw excitement in the eyes of his players. He said that the program had 90 players show up to its first practice walk-through Thursday, saying that many have been diligent in the workouts provided by the staff, and look to be in shape heading into these first practices.
Warriors senior safety and wide receiver Rocco Milia knows this practice looks nothing like the training camps he has been a part of before. But he is excited to start the process back to football.
“It feels amazing,” Milia said. “I’m just glad to be back with my teammates and coaches. It’s good to see everyone again. It’s been a long three months.”
While football is not allowed on the field, Korzeniewski has tried to maximize the football opportunities, using Zoom meetings for installation of the playbook.
But the head coach realizes that it’s just not the same as it normally would be at this time.
In these first practices ahead of the 2020 season, Korzeniewski said he, his staff and his players have to accept that as reality.
“Relative to the world we are operating in, we feel fine with it. We are good,” Korzeniewski said. “I don’t know if I would say I am satisfied because I’m used to being here, and I’m only here. But I’m constantly reminding myself and our coaches that we are not going to be where we were in years before at this point. And everyone is in that position.”
Contact reporter Colin Gay at cgay@hometownlife.com or 248-330-6710. Follow him on Twitter @ColinGay17. Send game results and stats to Liv-Sports@hometownlife.com.
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