The first step toward football in the fall at Penn State begins Monday, when 75 players will be permitted to return to campus to be tested before workouts open.
Barry Reeger | AP file photo
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There’s no telling when the next college football season will begin. But on Thursday, Penn State took the first step toward preparing for one.
Penn State announced Thursday night that 75 football players would be permitted to be on campus on Monday as part of a phased return for the entire athletic department.
The NCAA has permitted players to begin voluntary workouts on campuses as of June 1. The Big Ten deferred a conference-wide decision and left the initial timetable up to individual schools.
At Penn State, those voluntary workouts won’t start right away. The school said the players have begun “a prescribed quarantine” prior to their arrival, which will continue when they return.
All 75 players will be tested for COVID-19, and those who are medically cleared will able to begin workouts the following week on June 15.
“We are looking forward to the return of our student-athletes in the coming weeks and hope this is the first steps to a full return for the fall,” athletic director Sandy Barbour said through the school. “We are appreciative of (university president Eric Barron) for including (the athletics department) in this first wave of students coming back to campus.
“We are very confident in our plan and will continue to keep the health, safety and well-being of our students, coaches, staff and community as our top priority. Our outstanding sports performance group worked with medical experts at both the university, conference and national level, as well as university leadership to develop an extensive return to campus plan for our student-athletes, staff and facilities.”
Penn State is currently holding all summer classes online and has not yet made any public announcements on a plan for the fall semester. Barron did say last month, however, that the university was formulating a plan for how to bring students back for the fall.
The school said it consulted with athletes in developing the plan to return, and protocols will include wearing of masks when not working out, daily health screenings, small group sizes and additional sanitation.
Workouts will be held in groups of less than 20 players with supervision of the football strength staff and the school’s sports medicine staff.
Return times for other athletes will be announced at a later date.
But football is what funds the entire department, so it’s no surprise that those players would be the first to return, especially having all of spring practice wiped out.
Barbour previously said that players could need as many six weeks to ramp up from workouts to practices to actual games, assuming the season is able to start on time as scheduled. Penn State’s first game is scheduled for Sept. 5 against Idaho at Beaver Stadium, though many hurdles must still be cleared before then.