Masks, Shields, Caution And More?

Major League Baseball might be learning a hard lesson right now about the trials of sports teams traveling around playing games in opponents’ home ballparks, and it's something college football is watching as programs around the nation continue finding the best ways to protect themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic as fall camp nears.

While the MLB season is more than a week old and some teams have played nine games already, the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies have played just three times each. Both clubs have been temporarily shut down because some players tested positive for the virus.

Why could that affect North Carolina and other college football programs? Because Mack Brown said a couple of weeks ago, watching how things play out in the various pro sports getting underway will be a lesson to them and they will use that knowledge to their advantage.

The NBA and WNBA, however, have operated in a “bubble,” as it’s now called. Their seasons have also restarted and there haven’t been any positive reports in more than three weeks while the teams in both leagues have been in tightly controlled campus-like environments.

Bubbles might be hard to pull off for a college football team, though.

“I think that we’re all learning from baseball and men’s and women’s pro basketball, and football will teach us something when the NFL starts coming back and soccer,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said Friday. “So, the bubble theory is obviously working. That’s hard for us.”

UNC’s 19,000 students are set to return to campus Aug. 10. Some classes will still be held and there’s also the simple reality that so many students will be around tagged with the all the temptations associated with college-aged kids, and thus increasing the chances they might contract the virus. This is obviously a concern for Brown and all of UNC's coaches.

The Tar Heels suspended football workouts a few weeks ago when the school announced 37 of 420 athletes, coaches and staff from various UNC sports teams tested positive. That was before students were anywhere near Chapel Hill.

The NBA and WNBA don’t have that concern. MLB, however, does in that its players not only travel but have somewhat free reign to move about in their hometowns.

So, being super smart and disciplined might be the most college football coaches can ask of their players, given the overall circumstances.

“What we’ve talked to our team about is, that’s the only way it looks like it works, you’ve got to be in a bubble even when you’re up on campus,” said Brown, who also noted his team is 100 percent helthy right now. “We’ve got 19,000 students coming back here pretty soon. So the fact that we can’t put them all in a dorm and keep them there and not let them out, we can’t do what the NBA has done.

“But at the same time, there’s got to be such a level of leadership on your team and discipline on your team and trust right now.”

Additional precautions continue being put in place and administered. The NCAA recently approved of a face shield that extends the entire width and length on football helmet facemasks. The Tar Heels tried them out for the first time Friday to mixed results.

Breathing issues and the shield fogging were the two biggest complaints. And when not wearing helmets, the players have masks on even when doing drills. They can remove their masks to drink water or if they’re at least 15 feet (five yards) away from teammates or training staff.

“They have their own water bottle with their name on it,” Brown said. “So, they come up to their water bottle, they have to have their mask on because the trainer’s standing there, they sanitize their hands, they take their bottle, they go five yards away, they pull the mask down, they drink, they pull the mask back up, they go back and put the bottle in. It’s an amazing process.”

Brown finds himself occasionally reminding players during practice to keep their distance from others.

“What we’re trying to do is normalize the mask and social distancing as much as we can before we get started with practice…," he said. "So, we’re just doing trial and error.”

Then there’s the whole idea of moving an entire college football team to games that require flights. UNC has three this season: At Florida State, Miami and Boston College.

But that’s down the road and Brown isn’t speculating much about that for now. It’s been discussed, but nothing can be decided until they get deeper into this fluid process.

One thing is for certain among the Carolina program: Everyone in the program wants to play. No staff or players have opted out of the season, even though Brown has guaranteed they can keep their salaries or scholarships if they do. He’s implored to them he’s not interested in any macho stuff, he wants them all to feel safe and be safe.

A bubble isn’t possible, so how safe they’ll be is to be determined.