Ask Farrell: Should coaches be talking about the pandemic?
At least two prominent Power Five coaches have expressed their opinions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, if and when players should return to school to start training and whether there will even be college football this season.
Statements from both Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy have been met with some guarded optimism and – big surprise – a whole lot of criticism.
Swinney said recently that he has “zero doubt” that football will be played this fall and that the “stands are going to be packed.”
According to reports, the two-time national championship coach continued: "This is America, man. We've stormed the beaches of Normandy. We've sent a rover out on Mars and walked on the moon," Swinney said. "This is the greatest country. We've created an iPhone where I can sit here and talk to people in all these different places. We've got the smartest people in the world. We're going to rise up and kick this thing in the teeth and get back to our lives."
On Tuesday, Gundy, during wide-ranging comments on a teleconference, said his intention is to start having personnel back in the football building by May 1.
MORE ASK FARRELL: What's the best way to evaluate linebackers?
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022: Top 100
According to reporters on the call, Gundy had a 20-minute opening statement on the response to the pandemic and said if someone got infected after returning to work that they would be quarantined just like when they get the flu.
Gundy had many comments on the topic and the timeline for returning to work, including this one, according to ESPN: “The majority of people in this building who are healthy ... and certainly the 18-, 19-, 20-, 21-, 22-year-olds that are healthy, the so-called medical people saying the herd of healthy people that have the antibodies maybe built up and can fight this? We all need to go back to work.
"I'm not taking away from the danger of people getting sick. You have the virus, stay healthy, try to do what we can to help people that are sick. And we're losing lives, which is just terrible. The second part of it is that we still have to schedule and continue to move forward as life goes on and help those people."
Tensions are high. Nervousness and uncertainty about the future is expected. And so we ask Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell: Should coaches such as Swinney and Gundy be making comments about the coronavirus or let medical professionals handle the message on the virus?
FARRELL'S TAKE
"Honestly, they just need to keep quiet. But at least Dabo’s optimism is something many people can get behind and provides a glimmer of hope that fans can latch on to. But Gundy? That was honestly moronic to say in this climate.
"Whether you think this is the end of the world or something overblown by the media, you have to consider the struggles of those dealing with this new reality. People are losing lives. People are getting sick. People are losing jobs and their income. And to suggest that unpaid football players at the college level should risk their health and ‘get back to work’ is beyond tone deaf.
"Let the medical professionals speak to these matters and let the football coaches stick to cliches."