The Plan for the Return of UK Football

Photo: @UKFootball

If you listened to KSR today, I mentioned that I received some information about the plans for returning the UK Football team to campus and how summer workouts may go in Lexington. After spending some time this afternoon talking to folks, I can confirm much of what was written to me earlier today and the outline of how UK plans to bring its football team back. Sources tell KSR that this is the current working model.

The basic information is this. Sources tell KSR that Kentucky is planning to bring its Football team back to campus in stages. The first stage will involve the 30-40 players who already are in Kentucky, either because they live here or never left during the Quarantine. They will be brought back when the facility is allowed to be open. The assumption is that will be June 8, although that decision has not been finalized by the University. They will be tested by the University for all potential medical issues and if cleared, can begin workouts with the staff.

For the rest of the team, their return to Lexington will be in stages. Each week, another group will be brought back (somewhere between 10-20), tested for the virus and then after a period of time, integrated with the rest of the team. This will continue throughout June, with players brought back every 5-7 days. The players with any potential pre-existing conditions or issues will be the last to return. By the time Fall camp starts, the hope is that the entire team will be present.

For those that aren’t on campus in the beginning, workout equipment has been sent to where they are and they will do workouts from those locations. The team training as a whole (whether in person or virtual) will begin when the facility opens.

As for the games, no final decision has been made what will happen. There is hope that there will be a full season that begins on time. But there are also options on the table that include a slight delay to the start of the season, with a full schedule being completed in December/January. The possibility of starting the season a few weeks late and playing only conference games and one non-conference game (which for Kentucky would be Louisville) is also on the table. However none of the decisions have been made and likely all will be pursued sometime in June when the conference has a better idea where we stand.

Finally, there have also been no decisions on fans in attendance. It is considered highly unlikely that a full crowd will be an option, but it hasn’t been completely ruled out. The working assumption is attendance limited to 1/3 of a stadium’s capacity. However it was stressed to me that this could easily change and go down or up depending on how the virus reacts this summer.

As with all of the virus, this is subject to change but for now, is the working model for UK Football in 2020.