Pitt's Heather Lyke fears covid-19 trends put football season at risk

Only in 2020 would you hear a top university official speak these words about the football season, two weeks before the start of training camp:

“Right now, we are not in an ideal spot,” Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke said Wednesday morning.

With each day ripped off the calendar, the possibility of the college football season starting on time becomes more and more remote. No one wants to cancel football or move it to spring, but those talks have occurred.

“I’m really an optimistic person,” Lyke said when asked about having a college football season, “but I wouldn’t say I am overly confident.”

She used the exact phrasing April 16 when asked about college football occurring this fall.

Three months later, she said, “The trends in the country are not where we want them to be. If that continues on that trajectory, that would not be a very good fact for us. We’re taking it day by day and evaluating things.”

The good news for Pitt is there has been no talk about eliminating sports or asking for voluntary or involuntary salary cuts for staff members.

So, it’s back to business for everyone, including Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi and his staff. They will get together Friday with their players for the start of two weeks of walk-through drills, video work and meetings leading into the start of fall camp Aug. 7. The NCAA allowed the unusual pre-camp training period, with coaches, to compensate for the cancellation of spring drills.

But groups are limited to 25 people, and indoor meetings have been moved to larger rooms, with social distancing between seats. Other precautions include:

• Student-athletes filling out daily questionnaires on their phones.

• A total of 19 staff members trained on contact tracing.

Lyke said 300 student-athletes from football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, gymnastics and swimming and diving teams are back on campus after staggered arrivals and an initial 14-day quarantine period.

Student-athletes were given an option to be tested for covid-19, but anyone showing symptoms was required to take one immediately. She said she didn’t know how many tests have been administered, and Pitt is not releasing data on how many came back positive.

“If someone is positive, they go into isolation,” she said.

But there have not been enough positive tests to pause workouts over the past month, according to Lyke.

Also, while Ohio State required its student-athletes to sign covid-19 risk waivers, Pitt didn’t go that far. Lyke said everyone is strongly urged to wear a mask, and she said she has even seen coaches wearing them outside, trying to simultaneously remain healthy and set an example.

“If kids walk into facilities without a mask, that is their acknowledgment that they are exposing themselves,” she said. “We call it Panther Accountability.”

“We have a very thoughtful, detailed plan that we rolled out,” Lyke said. “We really relied on (the Pitt medical team’s) guidance with regards to bringing kids back and bringing staff back.

“There is a pace about it and there’s patience that we have to have and we have to be nimble. Things are going to change and evolve. There is nothing set in stone right yet.”

That certainly pertains to the football season.

“We have absolutely discussed a lot of (schedule) iterations,” Lyke said, noting ACC officials and athletic directors meet at least twice a week.

“We’ve talked about minimizing travel and regionalizing things and keeping the divisions (Atlantic and Coastal) intact.

“Ultimately, we want to play a conference schedule as long as we are able to do it safely. We are trying to hone in on a final decision with regards to what our schedule looks like, but we have not yet done that.”

After the Big Ten and Pac-12 decided to play only conference games, the ACC expected to do the same, but Commissioner John Swofford said he will announce a definite fall sports plan by the end of July. Pitt’s non-conference game with Richmond of the Colonial Athletic Association likely won’t happen after the CAA canceled fall sports for its schools.

What about fans at games?

“Fans will really be dependent on the governor’s orders,” Lyke said. “We are working closely with the Steelers on what a stadium at Heinz Field would look like if we are social distanced.

“We do have projections that we can probably get somewhere between 15,000 to 18,000 to 20,000 at the max in Heinz Field if everybody was socially distanced, but we are steps away from any chance of doing that at this point in time.

“Our No. 1 priority is to focus on our team and student-athletes and the schedule and see if we can really manage through that piece of it to start.”

Keeping everyone covid-free promises to be a difficult task, especially when students return for the start of classes Aug. 19.

“I was teasing the Chancellor (Patrick Gallagher), `If you could come up with some hormone therapy where college kids don’t need to interact …’ ” Lyke said.

“It’s impossible to keep kids away from one another. We’re going to do the best we possibly can. There’s no question when we bring that many students back, I expect that there will be some increase in cases.

“Hopefully, it is not really exorbitant.”