Tom Allen Updates Where IU Stands With COVID-19 Issues

Indiana head coach Tom Allen Image: Indiana University Athletics

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Details of the reason why Indiana has had to cancel their final two games of the season were explained by head coach Tom Allen on Tuesday afternoon. The Hoosiers paused all team activities on Monday, December 7th and had both of their games with Purdue canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Allen said on Tuesday that there had been “28 positive cases that includes players and coaches at the tier one level. It's a significant number. We have had those since the Wisconsin game, so that is a lot in a short amount of time which has caused us to be on pause.”

The Hoosiers were able to get things moving Tuesday according to Allen as the team could finally return to the facilities and get in the weight room, and could see the Hoosiers return to regular practice next Monday in preparation for their bowl game. “Today we were able to move forward with trying to do some cohort work trying to get the guys physically prepared in the weight room and some running.” Allen said. “The goal is to be able to systematically build off of that and put us in a position to be able to have a regular practice on Monday in preparation.”

Allen explained the Hoosiers procedures while dealing with the outbreak.

“The guys that have tested positive are in isolation and we have no physical contact with them.” Allen explained. “Everything is via Zoom. If they do anything that they are involved with us, it is not in person. Their food is delivered to their apartment or dorm so they have pretty much been totally isolated from everybody else. The guys that have not tested positive, we have treated them like they were in quarantine for the last seven days. We came in, tested them in the morning and they would leave. Today was our first day back of having guys here and able to lift so I was around our healthy guys but still a pretty skeleton crew. Those guys did some good things today and we will do that for the rest of this week. They are in cohorts so they are in small groups and will not be together as a full team until the following Monday. We are just trying to handle it the best we can to keep our guys healthy and safe. It is important that we do the things that we are doing with them right now but we are just trying to be diligent, follow the advice of our medical professionals here and they are doing a great job.”

This is not the first COVID-19 stoppage the Hoosiers have encountered in 2020. IU paused activities back in July and Allen says the Hoosiers have learned from the experience.

“I think what we learned most from being paused in July was the true value of wearing a mask while they are in the facility.” Allen said. “During lifting workouts, during meetings, just during all those things inside the facility. I think the cohort concept is something we learned and that we have gone back to today, to be able to keep them isolated and not have large groups here. It is mitigating the risk of having guys in close contact with each other as they are training, having meetings, and all of those different things. We have done everything on Zoom this week. All of our meetings are going to be on Zoom. Those are the kinds of things that you fall back on. I felt like today was just like we did before we got going. We have been able to go back to those things, kind of have a flow, and figure it all out. The guys, the healthy ones, while they were home were given some workouts that they could do in their apartments or in their dorms while they were waiting to get back together. You just kind of fall back on the things that worked the last time you had to do this and then you are able to build from it. I think the biggest thing in trying to keep this team healthy, is keeping us a apart as much as we can, smaller groups, and using our masks the right way.”

The Hoosiers finished the regular season at 6-1 with three wins over ranked opponents. IU will find out where they stand in the penultimate College Football Playoff ranking Tuesday night and by Sunday evening should know their bowl destination.