Kansas football resuming voluntary workouts

By Matt Tait     Jul 22, 2020

Nick Krug
Kansas quarterback Thomas MacVittie throws during football practice on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 within the new indoor practice facility.

The University of Kansas football program resumed voluntary workouts on Wednesday, 19 days after suspending offseason activities because of a dozen positive COVID-19 tests.

KU Athletic Director Jeff Long announced Wednesday that 90 COVID-19 tests conducted last Saturday produced four positive results. Long said the 4.4% positive rate was low enough for physicians at Kansas Team Health to recommend that the Jayhawks get back to work.

“The four individuals are currently following isolation protocols established by our health care physicians and public health professionals,” Long said in a statement.

After starting testing and voluntary workouts in mid-June, KU suspended voluntary team activities on July 3, when 12 players tested positive for COVID-19.

That triggered a 14-day self-quarantine period for all players and staff, and Long told the Journal-World last week that the decision to test over the weekend — a couple of days after the 14-day period was up — was made in the name of caution.

Long said last week that there was no set number or percentage requirement for moving forward.

“The medical doctors and medical professionals are really making the decisions for us when it comes to the virus and how we conduct our business in coming back to play,” Long told the Journal-World.

In the meantime, Long and other administrators in the Big 12 Conference have continued to work toward having a full football season this fall.

KU officials are currently searching for a replacement on the schedule for New Hampshire, which pulled out of its Sept. 5 game with Kansas last week, and they continue to monitor medical developments while their student-athletes and coaches prepare for the season.

“They want to play,” Long told the Journal-World. “… There’s always risks. But if we can get it to an acceptable level of risk for all of our student-athletes and our coaches and staff, then that’s what we want to do.”

The next key date arrives Friday, when coaches are allowed by NCAA rules to work more closely with their athletes for longer periods of time. Until then, the workouts will remain strictly voluntary and will unfold without KU’s coaching staff present.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.