University of Miami football coach Manny Diaz spoke by phone with the Miami Herald late Tuesday afternoon, saying that "most of our team is back" after spending the past two-plus months with their families because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Diaz estimated that "maybe two-thirds of the team," including quarterback D'Eriq King, have returned. That's a guess."
Diaz said UM's regular Greentree Practice Field facilities were officially approved Tuesday for voluntary player workouts, though the indoor facilities are still closed. He and the other coaches are not allowed to be with the players or observe them during their workouts.
"It's voluntary. I can't monitor," he said. "If they all have to check in with me then it wouldn't be voluntary. You get in trouble doing those things."
Diaz said that he expects everybody back for official practice, which he still envisions will be in early August, though that has not yet been decided.
"Within the past 10 days I've had a one-on-one Zoom session with every member of our football team," Diaz said. "Universally everybody talks about missing the routine, but more than that they talk about missing the connection with their teammates.
"They've been very positive. They've been very upbeat. I sense a strong focus."
Diaz said the college football leagues, such as UM's Atlantic Coast Conference, are communicating with each other and will ultimately decide the most important steps in planning official practices and the season.
For now, it's a yet-to-be finalized "campus decision," he said, regarding allowing players to return to the weight room and indoor practice facilities. He confirmed that players who have been rehabilitating following surgery have been working out together and keeping social distance protocol.
"We're still trying to finalize the exact plan of when they can return to our campus for structured lifting sessions, what the testing procedure ahead of that will look like. We still don't have that final step of approval on that, so we're just in that holding pattern until we know.
" ... June 15th is a possibility for us being able to open our building (the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility and other athletic offices) back up to small groups, but that is not a certainty now. There are multiple dates we have (as options)."
The players have been getting physicals, the coach said, and coaches are still having football meetings with them on Zoom videoconferencing.
Regarding the workouts, he said "the players can meet up at a field as long as they keep their numbers low and are smart" as far as social distancing. "We're waiting for the next step until they get in the weight room and can be supervised by our staff."
Diaz said "there is no set limit yet for a group size on workouts," although eight has been one of the amounts considered for weight-lifting groups.
How physically fit does Diaz expect his players to be?
"It's still hard to say because we haven't had a chance to really train our guys yet, but I do think, in talking to them, they've done a pretty good job of being active. I'd imagine you'll have some extremes at both ends."
And more:
_ Regarding COVID-19 testing, Diaz said, "All I'm going to say is there will be testing. We work at a university that has an outstanding medical health system attached to it. Those experts, starting with the expertise of our university president (Julio Frenk), will be the ones that will be setting those models in place."
_ When asked if any of his players had tested positive for the coronavirus, Diaz said, "That's not information we're allowed to pass along."
_ What if a player does test positive? "We'll do what the medical experts tell us to do. There's no opinion here. There's science and there's the facts, and we go by what the rules are, which is what we've been doing this whole time."
_ Diaz confirmed what a mother of a player told the Herald last week, that players in New York and high-virus states such as New Jersey and others, must stay away from voluntary practices for 14 days. Some already have been away the 14 days and are working out.
_ Have any of UM's football coaches had to take a two-week furlough like some of the other UM employees, or a pay cut? "It's a difficult question to answer," the coach said. "What I'll say quite broadly is sacrifices have been made."
