PROVO, Utah – BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake and select players spoke to members of the media via Zoom on Monday afternoon.
The Cougars take on Troy on Sept. 26 at LaVell Edwards Stadium on ESPN in their next matchup, following the announcement that the Sept. 19 contest at Army would be postponed.
The following are quotes from Monday's Zoom media availability.
Head coach Kalani Sitake
Full interview here
I have a lot of trust in our sports medicine department and our administration and the decision-making process that they go through. On our flight to Navy, everyone on the charter flight had tested negative. On our return, we tested our guys and had a small number of positives. With all the different variables involved, especially the travel, you can imagine we had a lot of feedback from different entities. After looking into it more and hearing from various groups, our administration and sports medicine departments decided that the responsible thing to do, and the right thing to do as a partner to Army, we felt like it was the right move to postpone the game. We know that this is moving target and things have changed day-to-day and week-to-week, surrounding the pandemic. So that being said, what complicates things more is that the majority of our positive cases have been asymptomatic. When you are looking through it and trying to find how many people this could infect and affect, being mindful and responsible the best thing to do would be to postpone this game – get an early jump on it. I am fully confident that we, as a football program, sports medicine department and school have done all the right things up to this point including making this decision to postpone the game.
On the schedule for practice for the next two weeks and the status of the home game against Troy
I think the goal is to get those players back for that game. What we are doing this week, and what we have been doing since we got those positive tests, is to provide an environment so we could get those guys back as soon as possible and get the whole team back. But, right now this week, we are going to do a different form of practice. We are going to limit it to a certain number in groups of 10-15 and they can't involve other coaches or have players moving back and forth. So, this week won't be the same type of prep that you would do for an opponent knowing that we can't get on the field and practice all the different looks you are going to get. We will do our install through virtual and Zoom and we will try to do as much preparation for Troy as possible but it's really hard to do unless you get on the field and practice. We are hoping by next week we can get back to practicing as a program together and prepping the right way before that game and hopefully we can get that going by Monday. Some individuals depending on how some people test will be limited and may not even return until then. Even if players are late getting back, we want to make sure they are safe and not at risk to anyone else and also themselves. We are trying to keep guys in shape and make sure they aren't getting injured on the field without a lot of practice because that wouldn't be a smart thing as a program to do. So we want to keep them in mind and make sure we are in the right spot. That is why this move was very vital for me going into that game against Troy.
On how they decided, before the season, they were going to postpone games
I think what it came down to was the other players involved. With all the variables coming into it and having to alert other entities of a positive test and they are telling you their protocols on whether it is a high- or low-risk environment. We took all this information back from all these different groups and the right thing to do was to postpone. This isn't stop, this is wait. We are going to keep playing until they say stop and they haven't said stop yet. If we keep doing our part, we can continue but it's going to be a little bit different. This is different than anything we have faced – that's going for all of us in the community. So with COVID-19, we knew this might be in the future but there is a lot of flexibility in our scheduling. Unfortunately, this is part of the season this year. We aren't the only team that has had to postpone and reschedule our games, there are a number of other ones too. That shows that other programs and administration are thinking about others and are thinking about the safety of people and the players involved instead of just going on a playing. For me, this is a very responsible move by BYU and I applaud it. I am just going to do my part and get things down this week and hopefully get back to next week where our players can practice and prepare for Troy.
Thoughts on taking on LA Tech and adding them to the schedule
They have a great team and great coaches. It is going to be a great test for us. We are focused on getting ready this week and focusing on Troy but I am glad that Tom Holmoe was able to add that to the schedule. I think the world of that program. They have tons of athletes. We have coaches that have spent some time in that state, Louisiana, so we know what type of athletes they can bring here. They are going to cause some issues but right now we are focused Troy but glad that that's scheduling out.
I think it is important for people to know that we want to play Army. The postponement is not something that our players are excited about, our guys want to get on that game. There are a lot of things that we want to prove, that we want to test and facing a team like Army is a tough part of the game that fits what we want to challenge ourselves with. We are looking forward to getting that game rescheduled, hopefully, and we will continue to add quality opponents like LA Tech. But, as a head coach, I am going to try to stay focused on what's next but this is a different year. There are a lot of different things happening out there. As teams and programs start to make these decisions to postpone games or not, you may see a lot of flexibility in scheduling. I think that is okay. A lot of the athletic directors knew that this might have to be a transitioning year to make it through football in 2020.
Offensive Lineman James Empey
Full interview here
On what the last week has been like
We are taking it one day at a time, one piece at a time. We have been trying to follow the guidelines that have been given to us and we are trying to do our best. We have faith in everyone in our administration, whether it be Tom Holmoe and those guys scheduling games and making sure we have games to play and play football and the sports medicine staff who are making sure we are all safe and handle things the right way. We are just taking it piece by piece and doing our best to do what we need to do so we can keep playing football.
On how they will keep themselves motivated with back-to-back bye weeks
We have a lot of gratitude to be able to play right now so the whole fact that we still get to play football – that is the whole motivation we need. We have a little bit of extra time to prepare and workout with a little bit of time without a game, we are just grateful that we are able to play and will do anything we can to keep that up. We are trying to work hard and keep up on the film, stay together as a group and move forward.
On the feelings of the team when they found out the game against Army had been postponed
Everybody was super excited to play Army and I think we are still really excited for Army. We have a lot of faith that game will hopefully be rescheduled and we will still get to play those guys. They are a great team and have a great program and we were looking forward to it. So, in the moment everyone was kind of bummed because we wanted to play that game and we felt like we were on the way to having some pretty good preparation and getting ourselves dialed in for it. After that initial moment of hearing about it, I think everybody was just positive and grateful that we still get to play football and we started looking forward to the next game and looking forward to what we need to do to get back to playing football by whatever guidelines we have been given by sports medicine and the state of everyone trying to keep us healthy and safe and responsible. At first, it was a bummer but then everyone was like 'hey we are going to play, we get to play so let's stay positive and do everything we can and we will get that one back later on down the road.
Defensive back Troy Warner
Full interview here
On trying to stay safe with all of the other students currently on BYU campus
At the beginning of the year, in preparation for the season all the coaches and training staff made it very evident that as players, we had to do a good job of being aware of our surroundings and that includes not going to those type of activities and parties. I think each guy on this team is very aware that they need to do their part in staying staff and being aware of our surroundings and doing the right thing so they don't put our season in jeopardy. I think each guy on this team is very aware of that and are doing their own part in keeping this thing going.
On trying to give guidance to other players about staying safe
Accountability is huge for the team and especially this year. If you see a guy slacking off or not doing what they are supposed to do for the leaders to be on top of that so it doesn't become a reoccurring thing and I think we pride ourselves in doing that. We have a lot of leadership on this team and we take care of each other, especially the young guys that may not know what to do in this certain situation but we have done a very good job of that.
On what it's like for the players that have tested positive
When you get COVID, it is a very unfortunate situation. Obviously, when you are doing all the right things and putting yourself in the best position possible to be clean and safe at the end of the day, you can still get it. that is the tough part about this all. As teammates, all we can do is be there for them. Pick them up when it's needed – I think that is the biggest thing that we can do at the end of the day.
On trying to make sure this doesn't happen again
One thing we are all learning about COVID-19 is that we gain information on the fly. I think it is important as coaches, staff and players that we are all trying to figure out a way that we can better handle the situation that we have been given this year. whatever it is and whatever information that we get its important that we take it in and do what is best for each one of us and the team in order to play this season. I think we just have to roll with the punches and with the new information, it is important to implement them into our daily lives.