While other conferences close up shop for the fall, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the rest of the SEC forge ahead towards a regular season that is sure to be anything but regular.
"Well, no risk, the only way you can have that is to isolate everybody," Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said on Thursday afternoon. "That's it, but. ... If you do and follow the CDC guidelines from a contract tracing standpoint, I think you have an opportunity to move forward and try to play whatever sport it is in the fall."
Byrne said Alabama hired an outside group to handle contract tracing. He repeatedly said that both the group and the university want all Center for Disease Control guidelines followed.
The CDC recommends contact tracing for all laboratory-confirmed or probable COVID-19 patients.
Anyone who spent at least 15 minutes around the infected individual who initiated the search in the two days prior to their diagnosis or development of symptoms is encouraged to get tested.
CDC guidelines dictate that any close contact that tests negative for COVID-19 should still be self-quarantined and monitored for 14 days.
Despite the potential for everything to go sideways at some point, Alabama remains on track to start a 10-game conference only season at the beginning of the season in part because of the players.
"I think we've heard clearly from our student-athletes that a great majority of them want an opportunity to try to play," Byrne said.
One of the biggest recent headlines concerning athletics across the nation has been COVID-19's ability to infect the heart and cause myocarditis.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart that can lead to arrhythmia or in more serious cases, cardiac arrest or death. This condition would likely sideline any athlete for the remainder of their season if not longer.
Byrne didn't shy away from addressing this condition on Thursday. He said that none of Alabama's student-athletes were diagnosed with this condition.
Byrne also emphasized that Alabama conducts baseline cardiovascular testing when anyone joins any of Crimson Tide's teams. Those tests could potentially help Alabama monitor athletes later should they contract the virus.
When asked if a myocarditis diagnosis would bring everything to a halt, Byrne said no. He added that he was unable to disclose any specifics about what might bring about the end of the season, but did share that those discussions have taken place.
If these concerns cause athletes of any sport to opt-out this fall, Byrne said there would be no kind of retaliation. The athletic director said he's also in favor of extending their eligibility and the eligibility of any athlete whose sport is unable to complete this fall due to COVID-19.
The NCAA voted to allow such extensions in the spring but have not yet finalized such measures for the fall.
"Now you got to get in the weeds and how you make that work, the roster management, how many scholarships, there's still things we have to define," Byrne said. "But I think that is a foundational structure of what we're trying to do. If a young man or young woman chooses to opt out in the fall and/or their sport doesn't happen, we need to find a way to give them another opportunity to compete in the future."
