The Tennessee football head coach said no Volunteers have yet tested positive for COVID-19.
With the coronavirus hitting players on the Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide as athletes began to return to campus, concerns began to arise about how widespread it was. However, so far, Tennessee football has not had any positive tests.
Jeremy Pruitt went on Golic and Wingo Tuesday morning to discuss getting ready for the season amidst all of the news in the world right now. He said that one graduate assistant tested positive for the virus and has been quarantined for 14 days, but no student-athletes have yet.
On Monday, Tennessee football athletes began to work out voluntarily. Players began returning to Rocky Top last Wednesday, and summer enrollees began arriving over the weekend. Here’s a bit of what Pruitt said on the matter.
"“We brought in 72 guys last Wednesday, and of course we’d done the COVID test and the antibody test. And we brought in 19 other guys on Saturday, and over the next 10 to 14 days, there’ll be probably 10 to 20 more guys come in.”"
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Of course, that means that there is still a wait-and-see mode for players returning given the fact that not everybody is back on campus just yet. However, this is a very good start for UT and an encouraging sign.
Provided tests don’t spread rapidly at other SEC schools and national schools that have allowed athletes to return, things could end up being okay in the long run. After five positive tests at Alabama and three at Auburn, though, it will take some time.
Numerous safety precautions have been taken by the university to make sure there is not an outbreak among the athletes as they work out on campus. We wrote about that last week in a story you can read here.
Phillip Fulmer, as we mentioned in May, was reportedly the most cautious athletic director in the SEC about players returning to campus, and he deserves a lot of credit for taking that stand. As a result, he is probably going to be as reasonable and objective as anybody on this. What’s clear, though, is that everybody wants Tennessee football to play in 2020, and this is a start.