Virginia Coach Bronco Mendenhall Addresses Pandemic Challenges, Developments As Season Approaches

Virginia opens with VMI.
Bronco Mendenhall and the Virginia football team opened preseason practice on Monday. ~ Photo Courtesy Virginia Athletics Media Relations/JIm Daves

The ACC announced a revised football schedule last week and Virginia opened preseason practice this week. Even as schools around the country work toward the start of the fall season for college sports, however, there remains a cloud of uncertainty during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

A social media trend under the hash tag #WeWantToPlay emerged late Sunday as players in the Power 5 conferences expressed their desire to take the field this fall if certain safety and scholarship considerations are met. Clemson’s Darien Rencher and Trevor Lawrence, perhaps the most recognizable player in college football right now, were among the players that organized player meetings and the ensuing campaign.

Lawrence shared this Tweet.

Concurrently over the weekend, internet reports began to circulate indicating that the Big Ten is poised to cancel fall sports in that conference with other leagues potentially to follow. The MAC already announced last week that it had cancelled fall sports. There are reports that the Mountain West will cancel fall sports as well. ESPN also published an article about potential heart complications related to COVID-19 that quoted Dr. John MacKnight, the head primary care team physician at the University of Virginia.

That back-and-forth tug of war between playing or not playing, of course, has been an continuous roller coaster since the NCAA cancelled sports seasons in March. That emotional toll is something that UVA coach Bronco Mendenhall is monitoring within his program. He said managing his team’s mental health is at the top of his list currently in trying to help them have the best experience during this time.

“I’ll try my best to explain it. Probably the best way is just the effect it’s had on me personally,” Mendenhall said. “When you’re working specifically toward a goal with a very clear start date and you have plenty of time to prepare for that, there’s a singular focus and vision and preparation model and certainty that is so comforting that it provides really unique boundaries that you can operate within to maintain efficiency. With so many variances on the outside of start, stop, schedule, new schedule, continued start stop, there’s an existing emotional drain and distraction that is very difficult in terms managing the external environment. If you’re not careful, it does spill over into our competitive work of lifting, and running, and the strategy. And, quite frankly, maybe the biggest competitive work is the psychology of just trying to care for the mental health of our team and keep them positive and optimistic and focusing on just one horizon at a time.”

Mendenhall said that the #WeWantToPlay movement is important input and that it gives voice to the players actually playing the game. He noted that the eventual choices surrounding the season, however, would be a collective decision among all levels of the sport. That includes the players, the coaches, administrators, and health experts in the end.

“Certainly the players are the ones playing the game and they are exposing and they’re taking on a level of risk that is something we’ve really tried to present as clearly as possible and then committing to do everything we can to help mitigate that risk as much as we can,” Mendenhall said. “At least we know where the players are, or some players. When you then add the coaches’ view and the administrative view and the health view and the leadership view from the conference and an institution, that usually then frames the narrative in a more comprehensive way. I’m glad we have those voices. I’m glad we have that input. That alone doesn’t choose as that’s only one portion of the collective and this is a collective issue.”

With reports swirling about the Big Ten, a reporter asked Mendenhall for his thoughts on that news and the chances of moving the season to the spring.

“To me, No. 1, it’s news that there is a Power 5 conference that has made that decision. I think others certainly could follow,” Mendenhall said. “I think that would be likely. I’m not certain whether the ACC will be one of them, but I think there certainly could be others. Moving to the spring, I think there’s been enough initial work to frame it pretty well. What are the benefits? Time, data, and more education to see if the community spread, the nation spread, the world wide and where all that stands in terms of health of safety. But then the challenges have been pretty well documented as well. So the main benefit is that it buys us time, but you guys have all seen the challenges posed as well. … The possibility of spring buys more time and buys possibly more answers, but still there would be a lot of work to do between now and then.”

Virginia released new COVID-19 testing results Monday afternoon and there have been no positive test results since the last report from July 24. A total of 238 student-athletes at UVA have been tested with four producing a positive test since July 5. Boston College, an ACC school now on the Hoos’ schedule, announced no new tests from testing on July 31 as well and indicated just one positive test in testing 366 student-athletes, coaches, and staff.

Reports Monday from Sports Illustrated, CBS, and others indicated that the ACC athletic directors and presidents held meetings Monday and plan on “moving forward in an attempt to play.” When asked earlier in the day if he had received any updates on the ACC’s plans, Mendenhall said he had not had that conversation with UVA Athletic Director Carla Williams or President Jim Ryan. Still, he called the situation “turbulent” and quickly morphing all the time.

So while Mendenhall is “at peace” with how well the Virginia football program is handling protocols and protecting its players, he knows that’s only part of the puzzle. Plus, the puzzle changes when the bubble currently in place for preseason practice gives way to regular classes and campus life.

“We’ve had amazing numbers in terms of controlling the virus numbers in our program,” Mendenhall said. “Not only within in football have our numbers been exceptional, but for the whole athletic department. We have done a very good job controlling that component. However, that does not reflect the community spread, that doesn’t reflect the nation-wide numbers, and it doesn’t reflect the world-wide pandemic. Football is secondary to all of those things in my opinion. This to me isn’t a football only issue. This is a world-wide issue and a national issue and a state issue and a community issue. … Everyone has said health and safety first and foremost. I’m exactly there. I think we’ve done a great job in our program in this virtual bubble for this time being, that does not mean it’s sustainable or lasting or that anyone else has a handle on it at this point so I think there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done.”