Mark Stoops is short three offensive staff members this week. (SEC Photo)
Monday was not the kind of day Southeastern Conference football needed but had to know might happen. Arkansas coach Sam Pittman tested positive for COVID-19 and could miss Saturday’s game at No. 6 Florida. Mississippi State’s game with Auburn was postponed because the Bulldogs won’t have the mandatory 53 scholarship players available — and just barely had enough to play last week when they beat Auburn.
Top-ranked Alabama is supposed to play LSU on Saturday but the Tigers have had a reported four positive COVID tests and an unknown number of players in quarantine that might make it difficult for LSU to have the required 53 players available to play Alabama. One report says LSU is down to only one quarterback, no long snappers and no tight ends.
Texas A&M “paused” practice Monday and had every player and staff member tested after one player and one student-worker tested positive for COVID.
Then Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said he was “down three offensive staff members” this week. One likely is offensive coach John Schlarman and his cancer battle. Stoops would not name the coaches and whether offensive coordinator Eddie Gran, quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw, tight ends coach Vince Marrow and receivers coach Jovon Bouknight were missing.
Marrow, UK’s recruiting coordinator, tweeted a picture on Saturday with UK’s receivers and tight ends after having them over for dinner. The other three assistant coaches have not been on Twitter recently.
Stoops said the season has been a grind between COVID and the 10-game SEC schedule.
“It is definitely different. I feel like we are holding up fine. It is definitely different. I feel like the difference is, again, the work that we put in(to) relationships with our players and we are not able to do that as well. I am not able to communicate in a small room with them as often as I normally would for COVID restrictions and not wanting to spread the virus. That is difficult,” Stoops said.
“We have worked extremely hard in the past, (coaches) spending time with our players on Wednesdays, just have them over to their house or take them to dinner and really try to spend quality time with their players. We are not able to do that. It is tough. We have done that once, when normally we would do that every Wednesday.
“I just feel like the unity and the team bonding – the areas where we work exceptionally hard – we are just not able to do it. I feel a difference in that. I do the best I can in overcoming that. I think our players do. But I still feel very, very strong about this team and the way they care about each other, but it is most certainly different.”
Stoops said graduate assistants and support staff will be needed to help fill the coaching voids this week.
“It is what it is. I don’t think any of us want to use it as an excuse but it’s a strange year. It’s definitely different. We all have to deal with this issue as it comes at us. There are a lot of things we have to deal with that you don’t see,” Stoops said.
“Again, it is what it is … We just have to deal with it as it comes at us and as best we can.”
