The University of Arizona Wildcats also saw their season come to a screeching halt last week when the Pac-12 canceled the fall 2020 season. Head football coach Kevin Sumlin addressed the media earlier Tuesday morning and had this to say about the process and moving on to 2021, “we aren’t just moving on.” Sumlin explained, “we are in the process of going through team development.”
Coach Sumlin said that his team has been mimicking and “going over an NFL style OTA model” and helping the 30 newcomers transition. He went on to express how communication has played a significant role in the “new normal” and that being flexible is essential in a time that is anything but typical, “the new normal is not normal.”
Arizona football didn’t bring back their student-athletes all at once; they spread out the arrival of the athletes and something the head coach praises his staff for, “how we brought back guys, gradually, I thought was great.”
It is going to be interesting to see how coaches handle the virus and players at the same. With Sumlin, it’s more than just managing the virus, but it is managing his roster too.
Another wrinkle in the whole “not normal” part of today is that Coach Sumlin’s son, Jackson Sumlin, plays football at Oklahoma, and OU is gearing up to play and have a season. As the Wildcats season was halted, coach and his crew have to brace for impact, while his son continues to prepare for the season, “different places in this country are going through different things … I think it gives our players another perspective of where I am because I am a parent .. they do know that I have a son who is right in the thick of it.”
