Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity confirmed an Insider Note by UGASports that football coaches and players could possibly return to campus for voluntary workouts sometime in early June.
According to McGarity, SEC presidents and chancellors are expected to discuss the issue during a conference call May 22. The Baton Rouge Advocate first reported the date.
The SEC currently has a ban on all athletic activity through May 31.
Assuming the league presidents and chancellors vote to lift the moratorium, athletes could theoretically be allowed back on campus June 1, although June 15 is the date that has been most often discussed.
McGarity has his fingers crossed.
“I’m sure they’ll be talking about a lot of different options,” McGarity told UGASports Thursday. “But I don’t know. I don’t know how that is going to play out among the 14 schools.”
McGarity said everything is contingent on when campus actually opens. That decision will be made by the University System of Georgia and the presidents of the 26 institutions it represents over the next couple of weeks.
“That’s what the President and the University System, that’s what they’re going through at this very moment over the next two weeks, to see what is the readiness of all the state institutions,” McGarity said. “We’ll just have to wait and see where we are from a readiness standpoint and from a campus perspective.”
McGarity recently confirmed to UGASports that once the green light is given to start preseason practice, the team would be moved into a quarantine situation at the Georgia Center Hotel adjacent to the team practice fields.
Any June workouts would be voluntary, as they typically are, although most are almost always attended by 100 percent of the team.
McGarity was asked if there was a consensus how long it would take players to get back into “football shape” for the upcoming year, still scheduled to kick off Sept. 7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Virginia.
“It really hasn’t reached that point yet, because we’re going to depend on the medical group to provide that guidance,” he said. “I do think you will see one common date, as far as when voluntary workouts could resume as well as returning to campus for practice.”
On Thursday, the SEC sent out an email stating that a task force consisting of medical professionals from the 14 member schools was being used to guide the conference as it prepares for membership related to the return of athletics activities, including team gatherings, practices, conditioning and competition.
The group has been meeting since April.
Senior Associate Athletics Director Ron Courson is Georgia’s representative on the panel.
“We’re so proud of Ron and everything he has done to represent Georgia, and really to represent the wellness of the student-athletes,” McGarity said. “That’s been very positive there.”
