Jake Coquillard had been bracing for a gut punch since April, one he knew was coming but didn’t know when.
But no matter how much the Essexville Garber football coach prepared, there would be no easing the pain of the announcement that there will be no high school football this fall in Michigan.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association released its official decision at 4 p.m. Friday. The football season that is considered a staple of fall is being moved to the spring due to the coronavirus threat.
“I opened myself to the probability that this was going to happen,” said Coquillard. “But it’s still a sharp kick to the gut. As coaches and teachers, we want this so badly for these kids, giving them the opportunity to compete and grow as a team. Football delivers that in a special way, with a special bond and brotherhood.
“So even though I felt it was coming, it still feels like a gut punch.”
RELATED: MHSAA moves high school football to spring
The MHSAA said details of how and when the football season will be played in the spring will be rolled out over the next few months. It is unclear whether teams may continue to practice. The announcement came five days into preseason practices for football and three days before full-pad practices were set to begin.
Coquillard, who is in his 11th season at the helm at Garber, said the unknown has hovered over his team and the community “like a cloud” as everybody felt trapped in limbo awaiting a decision.
“So much is up in the air right now that we can’t control,” he said. “Do we really want one person testing positive, going down and taking the whole team with him – when it’s not even his fault? You wouldn’t want to tell your team ‘Guys, we’ve got to shut it down because Brian tested positive.’ Then everybody’s mad at him when there was nothing he could do about it. It’s just not a situation that’s conducive to playing.”
For now, football remains on the docket. With the move to spring, the MHSAA allowed its most full-contact and high-risk – and most popular – sport to have a chance to be played. Its fate now rests on the battle with coronavirus.
“I love that the MHSAA is pushing to get football in,” Coquillard said. “They’re not bagging it for the whole year, and that’s really important to these seniors and everybody with a love for the game.”
Coaches throughout the state reacted to the decision, as their season just took a historic twist. Here’s a sample of comments collected by MLive.com in the minutes following the announcement.
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Muskegon Catholic Central coach Steve Czerwon:
“I’m just curious, what news happened this week that we couldn’t have made this decision last week? The kids get all excited to play and now it’s taken away from them. I’m just kind of wondering how they justified starting practice and then telling us to stop.”
Clarkston coach Kurt Richardson
“Things were really going good for us. I heard horror stories around the neighborhood, but things were going good for us. I don’t know, you try and look at it positively, but in the back of your mind, it was always there.”
West Bloomfield coach Ron Bellamy
“When I was called earlier and notified that the MHSAA was going to have a meeting today, I didn’t have a good feeling about it. I would be lying to tell you that we weren’t prepared for this moment. We scheduled team pictures on the 15th of August and we did a pro day for our kids. We definitely prepared for this moment, it just happened five days, six days sooner than we anticipated.”
“My biggest thing is, if this decision was made on the safety of the kids and the coaches, then I’m all for it, then I’m all for moving football to the spring or not playing football. The experts thought this was the best decision. At the end of the day, we all love football – it’s something we use to teach the kids life lessons and help mentor these kids. Their safety is the No. 1 issue at hand and we have to look at that from that scope and you feel a little better about it.
“The sad part about us is we were walking on the field to start practice and the kids told me before the coaches did as they were putting their stuff away. Just trying to console the seniors. The seniors were crying. They were in tears, you know?”
Climax-Scotts coach Kevin Langs
“If everyone else except football gets to play competitions this fall, I would like to see the science and data explain that to me. I hurt for kids and our players. Your’e going at it for five days, and you have things you’re working toward and, all of a sudden, it’s gone. It’s a tough one to understand. Maybe in the next few days, it’ll become more clear to me.
"What's pretty disappointing is that our five practices were dynamite. We had five really good practices, and now young men who mentally overcame that uncertainty and just got after it, they had the rug pulled out."
Vicksburg coach Tom Marchese
"Even if you play in the spring, I just grieve for those seniors who worked hard on their own to play at the next level. This is going to be tough for the seniors who are working toward a college scholarship or the kid who hasn't gotten a shot yet. It'll be great when we play in the spring, but this feels like a gut punch right now."
“I’m glad they made the decision when they did because it wouldn’t have been right to make the kids practice for 10 or 14 days then shut it down.”
Montrose coach Dennis Reinhart
“We talked about cherishing each day because you never knew what was going to happen. That’s how we approached it. It’s one of those tough lessons in life.
“I am seriously disappointed in the MHSAA and how they handled it. They’re putting it out in a mass email and putting it on Twitter. My kids are leaving practice and going into the room where we disinfect our hands, pick up your cell phones, pick up your masks and leave. And they find out via that, where they don’t inform the athletic directors to talk to the coaches and say, ‘Hey, this is what’s coming down. You’ve got to find a way to talk to your kids.’ Our JV kids are already gone. We should have been able to talk to our kids instead of them finding out on Twitter. That’s very, very disappointing.
“We happened to be leaving practice so some of my kids are here right now. They’re devastated. They’re flat-out devastated. Now, other kids are already gone and I don’t get a chance to handle it and talk to them. That’s very disappointing. Very disappointing.”
Fenton coach Jeff Setzke
“It’s a very sad day, it really is. I hurt right now for our seniors. I know they’ve announced there will be a plan for something moving forward to see what we can continue to do. But so many kids live for this experience. It’s tough. Not going to school, doing virtual learning. They just keep getting kicked in the head.
“What really, at this point, is going to change in January in winter sports? Nothing has changed since March. They don’t have any solutions. I would be surprised if we get anything this year and just start up with football next fall. I wouldn’t be surprised. I hope I’m wrong.”
18
Saline coach Joe Palka, Saline
“As much as it may be viewed as a negative right now, we’re going to look at the silver lining. These five days that we had were kind of like a spring football for us. We got a lot of evaluation done, we got the kids back together and we got a lot of our install in. Moving forward, if we were able to get in a few more workouts in this fall, we would continue to build on what we’re doing right now in preparation for the spring.”
“I’m going to spin it as kind of a positive. It would’ve been great to know earlier, but that’s just not the nature of COVID-19 right now. Our thing is let’s take the positives that happened for the week, and if we get a chance to build on it with some extra workouts this fall, great, and then when the spring rolls around, hopefully we have a vaccine, we have more data and more readily available treatments and everybody feels better about playing contact football at that point in time.”
Milan coach Jesse Hoskins
“I’m glad they told us before we put pads on next week, but come on, like we were just starting to feel good about things.
“I feel terrible. The kids are so excited to play football. It was such a great week being with them and working hard again and having accountability. It just felt right. We were doing what we were supposed to be doing. Now, it’s like the rug has been pulled out.”
“I’m a pretty optimistic person and I am going to prepare (for spring football), and I would like to think it will work. But, logically, are we going to be over this wave of virus time? Is the weather going to allow it to happen? Packing three seasons in such a short period of time, are our kids going to be burnt or more susceptible to injury? I just think there are a lot of factors. It’s not as easy as just picking up and moving football.”
Saginaw Arthur Hill Coach Greg Peoples
“I was kind of wondering yes or no during practice, but yesterday I came to grips that we were going to play and started looking forward to our first game. Then today it feels like they pulled the rug out from under me. But I understand. It’s better to be safe than sorry and it seems like what we know about the virus keeps changing. I feel bad for the players who worked so hard for this, who made the commitment to play. But I think it’s for the best.”
Muskegon Oakridge coach Cary Harger
“When I saw my AD (coming out to our practice), I didn’t think he was delivering ‘That’ message, that fall football was postponed until the spring. We told the players to get a drink and bring it in. I read the first paragraph of the email from the MHSAA. I told the players that there was a little part in the back of my mind that expected this to happen, but I didn’t think it would feel like this. At this point, it is a postponement, not a cancellation. We look forward to the spring.”
Head coach Herb Brogan speaks to his players during the first day of football practice at Lumen Christi High School on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. J. Scott Park | MLive.com
Jackson Lumen Christi coach Herb Brogan
“I was kind of expecting this to happen earlier this summer, but once we got a week of practice under our belts, I think everyone got a little more optimistic about things. Everyone was stating to see some progress and getting excited about a potential season. So to have that yanked out from under us is kind of disappointing.
“At the same time, everyone is dealing with the same issues right now, so we just have to adapt to the changes and get ourselves ready to play football in the spring. We’ll meet with the players on Monday and go over what we do from here and start planning for what is ahead.
“Right now, we’re hoping to continue a modified practice schedule so we can at least stay sharp and make up for lost time they didn’t get this summer.”
Parma Western coach Dave Mifsud
“I feel like it was inevitable. It was something that has been lingering around in the background these past few weeks, and we were all just kind of waiting for the bad news.
“I feel bad for the boys. They were starting to have fun again, making some progress, and starting to look forward to getting to play football again and then -- just like that -- it’s taken away from you. This group of seniors has been through a lot already since March, so I just feel for them. They are a resilient group, and I know they’ll continue to work hard toward a spring season, but this is a difficult thing to process at the moment.
“I just hope our lives can get back to normal in the next few months or so and let these kids experience the things that they should be able to experience while they’re in high school.”
Leslie coach Greg Pscodna
“I’m just sitting at my computer and all of a sudden, 4 o’clock rolls around and the email pops up and you’re just kind of startled and shocked. We just got done with our practice for the day and we were planning on having the kids come back Saturday morning. Now, we’re picking up helmets and jerseys again.
“I had a feeling this decision was coming because I didn’t think there was a way for us to play high school football when college football in our own state has been deemed unsafe or unhealthy. I just feel bad for the kids right now. Everyone was looking forward to football games on Fridays this fall, from the players and coaches to the cheerleaders, parents and community.
“From an administrative and athletic director standpoint, there’s going to be a million questions moving forward, and I assume the MHSAA is going to try to answer those. My guess is that they will try and shorten all the seasons to try and fit everything in, so you might only see 12 basketball games and six football games this year. But we’re all just going to have to adapt to what is going on.”
Mona Shores head coach Matt Koziak talks with his players while running through a play at practice in Norton Shores, Michigan on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.Joel Bissell | MLive.com
Muskegon Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak
“Everybody’s heartbroken. We had kids cry today about it, especially the older kids. I was heartbroken for them. The coaches are all disappointed. You know, we get (a season in the spring) obviously, but I don’t think it lessens the hurt and disappointment.
“I don’t want a kid to have to choose between football and baseball or his body’s so beat up from football he can’t play baseball that spring.”
“The thing that’s worse for me is the uncertainty of everything. Everything is so uncertain.”
Ann Arbor Pioneer coach Bill Bellers
“I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it. I’m glad that there’s a decision. At least we know something now. I know I’m not playing football until March.
“We now have six months to let it process and continue to prepare and hope and pray that we get to do it in March.”
Ann Arbor Huron coach Antaiwn Mack
“It’s best for safety right now. I can’t be mad at them for making the decision. Only thing that bothers me is they put us in harm’s way for five or six weeks.
“It’s definitely the right move for the safety of coaches, the student-athletes and their families. The most important part is us being safe. Football can be played at a later time.”
“Is there a way the MHSAA can overlap seasons and do things to move it around? If so, that’s great. But if kids have to choose, it’s definitely going to affect programs throughout the state of Michigan.”
Caledonia coach Tom Burrill
“I think the high school kids should be playing this fall. We have been working together all summer long. But I completely understand the pressure that Mark Uyl has been under. The Big Ten didn’t do them any favors and the GLIAC didn’t do him any favors. He tried to push this off as long as he could. I think this is a decision that he had to make. Maybe he didn’t want to make it, but he had to make it.
“I don’t think it’s the right decision. I think there are a lot worse things kids are doing as far as COVID is concerned than football. If you are on the beach, you know that kids don’t socially distance themselves.
“But it’s nobody’s fault. I completely understand. These are tough decisions to make. I’m glad I didn’t have to make those decisions. I know that people really care about our kids. I think we have different opinions on what they look like. The main thing is that we have to stick together, stay positive, don’t point fingers and move forward, and that’s what we are going to do.”
NorthPointe Christian coach Brian Haveman
“We have pretty disappointed young men. The seniors were looking forward to their senior year and football in the fall, and because of a few people in the MHSAA, they are not going to have it.
“I think they made this decision so they wouldn’t look bad. I just think they didn’t want to answer the question as why high schools are playing when colleges aren’t playing. Instead of taking a hard look at it, they are worried about how it will look from the outside. The kids are allowed in school and can have that contact, walk through the halls with one another. We are playing outdoors.
“I’m standing here watching soccer practice, and my kids are crying and walking back to their cars and going home.”
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What Michigan high school coaches are saying about football moving to spring - MLive.com
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