New expectations greet ASU on field

ASU Coach Blake Anderson is shown in this photo.
ASU Coach Blake Anderson is shown in this photo.

JONESBORO -- Only two guys per table.

That's Blake Anderson and Arkansas State University's lunch-time policy for players this fall camp. With the coronavirus pandemic threatening the college football season, Anderson is taking every precaution, from the practice field to the cafeteria.

"It's constant communication and education," he said. "We got in [the cafeteria] last night and just felt like it was a little bit more cramped than we were comfortable with. So we made some adjustments last night, we spaced some tables out and gave them just a little bit more directions.

"We've been saying stay outside 6 feet, absolutely don't get inside that area for more than 15 minutes, but we've even said 10 feet and 10 minutes. We just want to be super, super cautious."

ASU definitely was cautious during its first fall practice Friday. Every player wore a face shield; every coach and trainer wore a mask; team and individual sessions were broken into mostly 8-12 minute periods; and players, for the most part, kept their social distance on the sidelines.

Anderson spent a good portion of practice reminding players to "space out" and "keep their distance" when not participating in drills. At one point, he briefly stopped practice to make guys separate.

"I think our kids are listening. And honestly, some of the times when I'm telling them to space out is me just being overly cautious," Anderson said. "I just want them to get comfortable with the thought of if you are standing still and it's not your rep, we need to be thoughtful of moving away from other people. It's just a good habit to get into.

"Hopefully we'll do better and better as we move forward. I think we have to be flexible, too. The protocol changes; we learn new things every day; we see where we can get better every day; and that's where we have to do a great job at seeing that and not being tunnel vision on the X's and O's of fall camp."

Anderson said it's going to be a constant learning period for his players and staff. They'll have to adjust to this new way of practicing because if they don't, it could jeopardize their season.

As for himself, Anderson is trying to get used to the protocols, too. Throughout practice, he wore his mask, occasionally taking it off to yell instructions or get a player's attention. He said he felt comfortable in the mask and socially distancing, but it'll take time to adjust completely.

"It's different, there's no doubt. I think as we do it, we'll get more and more comfortable and try to move away from guys pulling the mask down, try to make sure I'm not right there in front of them just to be safe," he said. "I told the guys in the meeting last night and I meant it: Their safety, my staff's safety is more important than anything else we do. There's a risk involved, we know that. There's risk involved in going to Walmart or going to get a bite to eat.

"But we want to minimize as much risk as possible and just be conscious of face coverings and space and time. Those are some things that we can affect easily just by creating habits.

"I thought for the first day it went really, really well."

Although new guidelines were on his mind, Anderson also showed how excited he was to be back on the field. During the first break, he was dancing with players and sharing laughs with his assistants.

It felt good to be back on the field, he said, even if practice looked and felt a little different.

"The dancing part you're not supposed to see, so I hope no one had a recording device," Anderson said with a laugh. "It seems like it's been forever, to be honest with you. I think just being away from them in general for so long made the gap seem even bigger. And the uncertainty of the possibility to play, I think just makes you appreciate that we got to go out and do what we love to do today.

"We like to have fun. We're going to go out there and work as hard as we're going to work, but we like to chop it up and dance a little bit."

Upcoming Events