Tennessee football: Pausing activities for COVID comes at a good time
On the surface, it seems like another blow in a line of blows to Tennessee football dating back to the end of the season. Recently, the arrest of three Vols, two early enrollee signees and one redshirt freshman, was the big news.
Now, with spring practice less than a week out, a COVID-19 outbreak has caused Rocky Top to shut down team activities. The school announced the move as a precaution Wednesday morning, according to Patrick Brown of GoVols247.
However, while that seems like another curveball thrown at the Tennessee football program, it’s one that doesn’t necessarily come at a bad time. In fact, given all the transitions, this may be exactly what the Vols needed. Before we go any further, let’s add the caveat that this is with the assumption everybody will be okay.
Anyway, the Vols announced the scheduled start of spring practice back on March 3, and even at that time, the March 23 start date was set so the team could have some time to learn the new playbook. Josh Heupel is coming in and introducing his offensive scheme, Tim Banks is introducing a new defensive scheme, and the workout routines are changing.
Given all those facts, UT needed a later start for spring ball than in previous years. However, after they set that date, the arrests of Aaron Willis, Martavius French and Isaac Washington occurred. We still don’t know what to make of those arrests and how it will affect the Vols’ roster in the spring, but French and Willis in particular, as linebackers, could be key during that time.
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As a result, a pause on team activities may not be the worst thing. It gives UT an excused to delay the start of spring practice even further, and if they can still get all of their practices in, that simply means more time to adjust to the roster.
Maybe that’s enough time for those players to have their names cleared and their suspensions lifted. It could also be enough time for Heupel and Banks to find other guys, particularly for the linebacker spot, they could start to keep an eye on.
Beyond just the suspensions, though, it could give the team even more time to pick up on the playbook. After all, these are dramatic changes schematically for all the players in the system given what they have played in the last three years.
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Simply put, if there was going to be an outbreak to pause activities for Tennessee football, this was the time to have it. The Vols need more time to prepare for spring practice, and spring practice will be essential this year as they learn new systems on both sides of the ball. Add in the fact that the coaches need more time to deal with the roster situation, and there’s a benefit to this pause.