When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports completely in March, the Louisville football team was just halfway through its 14-practice spring session.
It left for spring break hoping to return in a week but was kept out of the facilities until Monday, which was the first day the Cardinals could return for voluntary workouts. Still, only 30 players were allowed in.
So, how did Louisville pick which players returned?
It tried to get most of its first- and second-team players in first, but it also prioritized those who were hurt during the spring and needed to rehab.
"We went through a good bit of our starters and figured out who we needed to bring in the most important as far as their bodies and mentally and things of that nature,” defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said. “We focused on our first and second groups and ranked those guys from there and wanted to make sure we got some of the defensive line and some of the guys who were hurt that we needed to get in here asap so they can get treatment as well.”
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Across the positions, Brown said the numbers are fairly even. Breaking things down on defense, Brown said there were about three or four defensive linemen already working out, along with four corners and three safeties.
“It’s a mix and match of a lot of guys,” he said. “Didn’t want to be eight defensive lineman vs. what we have. We wanted to spread it out even so we can make sure the next group is spread out as well.”
The team still has restrictions. There is social distancing during workouts and coaches and players can’t have physical contact with each other. Athletes are not allowed to shower at athletics facilities, and other moves such as designated entrances and exits and electronic daily symptom checks are also expected to be in place.
NCAA rules prevent coaches from attending voluntary offseason workouts, but coaches may be inside the facility.
Head coach Scott Satterfield is on board with the players returning to practice, even without being able to interact with them as normal.
“Everybody is anxious to get back and get going," Satterfield told The Courier Journal before the team resumed workouts. "Really like America. I think if you poll America I think everybody is ready to get back and going too. It's exciting to see how we are opening back up America and right here in Kentucky and Louisville. It's a lot of things we took for granted in the last two months so it's exciting to get back to a little bit of normalcy. It's going to be different we all know that. We all have to be cautious about how we approach it.
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"Safety is our No. 1 priority. But we all know we have to get back to living life and doing the things we all know and we all love. It's been a huge bump in the road and I feel for people in a lot of industries who have been hammered hard but our athletes have been working hard back home and what they miss the most is the camaraderie with each other. To be able to be able to get back and do that is going to be exciting for us.”
The next group of football players will return to the facilities on June 22, with the rest of the team set to be on campus by July 6, if everything goes as planned.
Cameron Teague Robinson CTeagueRob@gannett.com; Twitter: @cj_teague; Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.
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Louisville football gets back to workouts for first time since the COVID-19 shutdown - Courier Journal
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