Could COVID-19 cause Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and other older college coaches to sit out a season?
Well, according to the CDC, people who are 65 and older (Izzo is 65) are considered “at high-risk” for severe illness from COVID-19.
In a piece recently published by CBS Sports, Gary Parrish brings up a great point. Parrish notes that doctors and even President Trump are suggesting that older teachers way not go back to college campuses in the fall and that logically, the same could apply to older college coaches. Though Parrish does not name Tom Izzo, he does fit into the high-risk category.
From CBS Sports:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “people 65 years and older” are among those who are “at high-risk for severe illness from COVID-19.” That’s why doctors, and even the President, are suggesting older instructors might not return to campus when students are initially brought back.
Which brings me to college basketball.
This is a sport where the coaches at some of the top programs — most notably 76-year-old Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, 74-year-old Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and 70-year-old Roy Williams at North Carolina — are, according to the CDC, “at high-risk for severe illness from COVID-19.”
So if it’s being deemed unsafe for older teachers to return to their classrooms, logically speaking, here’s my question: Why would it be safe for older coaches like Boeheim, Krzyzewski and Williams to return to their locker rooms?
“I don’t think it will be safe,” answered Dr. Jon McCullers, the pediatrician-in-chief at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and associate dean at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine.
McCullers is an expert on influenza and pandemics, one who is leading a task force to study how to safely reopen the University of Tennessee’s campus in the fall. He told me this weekend that among his recommendations will be that professors 60 and up work remotely or take a year off. And yes, he’d recommend the same thing for coaches in the same age group.
Nation, do you think COVID-19 will cause older NCAA coaches to sit out a season?
Personally, I would be absolutely shocked to see even one single NCAA coach sit out a season because of COVID-19 risks, but time will tell.
