Monday, for the first time in more than two months, Ohio State coaches returned to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Yes, things are a little different than they were before the quarantine, but simply having personnel back in the building was clearly a big step.
Now, according to a report by Dave Biddle of Bucknuts, there is a timetable in place for Buckeye football players to come back to campus as well.
The report cites sources that said OSU players will be back in Columbus on Monday, June 8.
The school has not yet confirmed the report, and a lot is still not known about that potential return. Right now, the locker rooms, indoor practice facility, dining facilities, and many other areas of the WHAC are still off-limits to anyone.
Still, the moment players step back on campus at Ohio State, the likelihood of a 2020 college football season in Columbus will increase dramatically.
OSU Assistant AD for Football Sports Performance Mickey Marotti told reporters earlier this month that a minimum of two weeks of strength training would be required before players would be ready to practice.
At the time, it was assumed that mid-July would be something of a deadline for players to be back at school in order to start the season on time. If they’re able to come back a month earlier than that, that would be a major boon for the likelihood of the season kicking off on schedule.
The Buckeyes’ first game is set for Saturday, September 5 against Bowling Green.
This is just the latest in what seems like a sudden wave of optimism for the return of college football and other sports. This week, the governors of California, Texas, and New York have all spoken openly about the return of professional sports to their states sooner rather than later.
There are still many questions to be answered, including how likely it is that teams will be able to play in front of at least some fans, but if you’re hoping to see Buckeye football this fall, things are seemingly trending in a good direction right now.
Now that it looks like we have football again, just wanted to thank the entire
o-zone staff for all the great articles during this shut down. It made me feel connected to the Buckeyes.
Very positive development, not just for football or sports or whatever, but for a long awaited return to a path of normalcy in all walks of everyday life. Will it be without hiccups and landlines? Of course not. But we all know what the outcome would be taken to its logical conclusion if on the same path as the past 3 months: No normalcy; trillions of debt; 30,000,000 and counting unemployed; a stock market looking like a piñata; thousands of businesses gone and/or bankrupt; and a new generation of people who only look for the govt to “help them.”
Gag. And maybe how fitting that Gordon Gee (who had him in the pool?) was the 1st voice in the wilderness to speak out re: how to handle things without panic or political agendas. These are strange times indeed, but me-thinks continuing to put one’s head in the sand to hide is not the way out.