CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Miami’s Manny Diaz saw first-hand the disruptive impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on his team. The 47-year-old tested positive last November as the disease dealt a blow to the Hurricanes’ chances of contending for an ACC Championship.
With a vaccine readily available, Diaz hopes his team won’t have to face another season overshadowed by the virus.
“We got the whole staff vaccinated and they had a chance to watch us and respond to that,” Diaz said of the message he’s given to his players about getting vaccinated. “We can only give them as much information as possible but I give credit to the leaders. They were the ones to step up and do it.”
Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King was one of those to get vaccinated this spring.
“It was up to each individual player and nobody was forced to get it or not get it,” said King, who is returning as a sixth-year senior. “A lot of us did get the vaccination because we don’t want to miss games or have to deal with getting tested three times a week or having to worry about if I can play this Saturday.”
King said one of the reasons he chose to get vaccinated was because of his mother, Cassandra, who underwent a battle with breast cancer last year.
“I didn’t want to not get it and potentially give her COVID,” said King.
Miami safety Bubba Bolden wasn’t going to get the vaccine at first but changed his mind.
“I don’t want to miss a game,” Bolden said of his change of heart. “I don’t want to get COVID any time during the season. I don’t want to get anyone on the team sick. If we all take it, we can all be good to play the whole season.”
More than half of the football teams in the ACC have reached a required 85% threshold for the COVID-19 vaccinations according to Commissioner Jim Phillips with many more schools close to reaching the mark.
But the league hasn’t settled on how it plans to handle the upcoming season in terms of the minimum number of players required to play games or whether it would reschedule or forfeit games due to COVID-19.
“We all really want to wait a couple more weeks or so,” Phillips said. “I think there is some more information that we’ll be able to gather and I think we’ll understand the variant a bit. It’s really the recommendation of the medical group along with our ADs and our presidents.
“It will be forthcoming and we’ll be transparent and let everybody know.”
Phillips said the league is leaving it up to the individual schools as to decisions on vaccinations but he pointed out that seven of its 15 schools are requiring all students to be vaccinated before being able to return to school in the fall.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said earlier this week that six of his league’s 14 football programs had achieved an 80% vaccination rate. Those teams that hit the 85% threshold would not require their players and coaches to test regularly or wear face coverings inside team facilities.
But Sankey said in order to encourage teams to vaccinate, he said teams will have to forfeit games if faced with a COVID-19 outbreak and unable to field enough players in a given week.
Phillips indicated that overall the number of athletes vaccinated is a lot higher than the 85% threshold.
Diaz said his team is nearly at the 85% threshold.
“We have some guys that are between first and second shots,” Diaz explained. “If they see that through then we should be fine.”
