BYU junior wide receiver Neil Pau’u talked earlier in the week about how being part of fall camp puts the Cougars in their own world.
“I feel like the safest place is being here at BYU, stuck for almost 12 hours and then we go straight home because we are so tired,” Pau’u said. “I think the players and coaches who have expressed that campuses are a safe haven for us are 100% true.”
While life isn’t as restricted for the BYU athletes as it is for pro basketball or hockey players in their “bubbles,” the Cougars do get some protection from the COVID-19 pandemic by being around the same people day after day and limiting the introduction of new potential carriers.
“It’s been great to be able to be here with these guys,” BYU junior wide receiver Dax Milne said after practice on Friday. “During the time of quarantine, it was hard doing nothing. When we were able to get back at it, it felt really good. We understand it is a blessing because not everyone is able to do this right now. We’re just taking what we can get.”
Cougar senior defensive lineman Zac Dawe said he sees his BYU teammates locked in and focused when they are putting in the work.
“There are a lot of distractions once you leave the bubble, you might say,” Dawe said. “You see guys putting in more time getting into rehab, watching film, getting extra workouts in and having more opportunities to be successful on the field while getting away from the things that might be distracting off the field.”
They also get the emotional benefits of being around others in person, even while following the current health guidelines.
“The interaction and conversations are big,” Cougar head coach Kalani Sitake said. “With us trying to maintain social distancing and keep it as a low-risk environment, I think what we miss out on — and what I’ve seen a lot of our guys doing — is just talking. They have their masks on and are six feet away, but they are having normal conversations. The interaction is something a lot of us as humans are missing. What’s cool for us being here and being able to practice is that they have that available to them. I’ve seen that it has given the players a lot of relief just to have that connection to people.”
BYU wide receivers coach Fesi Sitake said Wednesday he feels like the Cougars have countered the pervasive negativity and upheaval by making fall camp as fun as it can be.
“We’re doing a lot of things but the one that sticks out to me is making this a fun place to be, a place these guys want to be,” Fesi Sitake said. “If this is just another day of work, that anxiety and stress is going to keep piling on. Our job as coaches is to make this be an escape for these guys, a place they are happy to be at away from the other stresses of life. We have to create a fun atmosphere, a place of learning, get some laughs going on, play some music, make big plays. All that stuff creates that environment.”
Kalani Sitake explained that it can be hard to have fun when the other side of the ball is beating you but he’s watched the Cougars show just how grateful they are to be practicing in a time when many of their peers are unable to do that.
“They aren’t let any moment pass by,” Kalani Sitake said. “They have a different attitude towards it. We had some guys limping around today, some tackles that were really violent. Guys got up and limped off. I asked if they were OK and they said, ‘yep, loving it!’ These guys are having fun with it. They have an opportunity to feel sore and recover. The reason it is a lot of fun is because they are good human beings who appreciate where they are at.”
The underlying reality is that this is a precarious position for all of college football. BYU is the only team west of Texas that still has plans to play but that can disappear if the health situation requires greater restrictions.
Kalani Sitake said that he hasn’t been given specifics about where that line would be but is putting his faith in the university administration and health experts.
“This is not my area of expertise,” Kalani Sitake said. “I know more about football than I do about the virus. What I do know is what they’ve taught me about how to control the environment and keep it low risk. We’ve done that as a coaching staff as much as we possibly can.”
He said the team has gone to such lengths to be as safe as possible that it has included going to “old-school” water breaks where every player has their own water bottle and they stay away from each other when getting a drink.
“It’s been different but I’m just thankful we have such a wonderful staff,” Sitake said. “We’ll work with our sports medicine department, who will keep educating us. This thing changes daily and a lot of things happen, so we will keep working to improve and adapt to whatever happens. I’m going off of what they tell me to do.”
Daily Herald sports reporter Jared Lloyd can be reached at 801-344-2555 or [email protected] Twitter:
@JaredrLloyd. Instagram: @JaredrLloyd.