One of the many things to know about Mario Cristobal, he’s as tough as anyone when it comes to making a plan and sticking to it.
And you have to be tough, especially in this era of sports and Covid-19.
Being a student athlete during this time is as difficult as it’s ever been.
Besides all of the normal everyday commitments, (on-field practice, film study, strength and conditioning training, position meetings, team meals, and online classes), student-athletes also now carry the heavy burden of remaining healthy through all of this so they and their individual sport can continue thriving.
Now, toss in the daily virus testing and mandatory mask-wearing at all times, and it simply can be a lot for any young adult to handle.
The burden is significant, but Cristobal made a plan and his plan is working.
Set aside the three false-positive tests prior to the shortened season’s beginning, the Duck football program has remained immune from game cancelations and postponements. And from what we can tell, the Oregon football program has only been off the practice field just three sessions in order to re-test after the false-positive tests came to light.
Given the current state of the country and college football, there’s not many programs around the country that can boast those kinds of results.
Even top flight programs like Clemson, Ohio State and Michigan haven’t been immune from the virus’ dangerous spread.
“I haven’t seen it,” said Cristobal when asked if he’s seen any mental fatigue from players within his program.
“I think anytime you play football, right, it tests you. It pushes you. We made a decision way back regardless of circumstance and situations, we’re just not gonna give in.
“I don’t mean to sound cold, I don’t mean to sound insensitive. I just think we have a greater responsibility to these young men that this is our opportunity to have our own class on the grass. Football is what it is and with all the stuff going on in the world, the very worst thing we can do is allow forgiveness.
“Just to allow, well ok, well because this is going on it’s ok not to do the very best we can to keep ourselves safe and to keep our protocol at the highest level. And that’s not going to happen.”
The National Collegiate Athletic Association polled more than 37,000 student-athletes in the early weeks of the pandemic and discovered that they had high levels of stress and depression, caused mostly by the disruption and uncertainty in their lives.
Stressors included fear of exposure to COVID-19 (43%), lack of motivation (40%), feelings of stress or anxiety (21%), and sadness or depression (13%). About 80% said they were having a hard time keeping up their athletic training, in part because they didn’t have access to an appropriate facility.
Now that the shortened season is in full swing the Oregon student-athlete is able to train in their normal environment, however that environment is drastically different.
The tangible stress of being the one on the team who somehow might get infected and then pass along that infection to his teammates and begin a landslide of stoppages within the program is real.
But somehow Cristobal has been able to overcome those stressors with his comprehensive safety plan and somehow infuse some normalcy within his program which is paying dividends.
MARIO CRISTOBAL WEDNESDAY MEDIA BRIEFING