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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State football coach Ryan Day has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be coaching during Saturday’s game in Illinois, according to multiple sources.
Ohio State still plans to play on Saturday and will take off on Saturday morning if the number of positive tests in the program does not increase. This news was first reported to Buckeye Talk subscribers. The state of Ohio confirmed the development with a press release Friday afternoon.
Associate Head Coach / Defensive Line Coach Larry Johnson will serve as interim coach in Day’s place.
Reports first surfaced on Wednesday night that the Buckeyes were dealing with an unspecified number of positive coronavirus tests under the program. The state of Ohio had previously declined to comment on these reports. A source told cleveland.com on Thursday that testing and contact tracing had affected players, coaches and support staff.
In its press release, the state of Ohio confirmed “an increase in the number of positive tests this week.” He said the program had reported “almost 0% positivity” since Aug. 11.
He also said the increase in testing did not pass the Big Ten threshold for cancellation.
Players who test positive for COVID-19 must stay out of competition for at least 21 days. However, coaches should only self-isolate for at least 10 days and be symptom-free for 24 hours.
An Ohio state spokesperson said Day’s 10-day quarantine could see him return on Monday, December 7, if he tested negative and cleared. The game against Michigan in Columbus will take place five days later, on December 12.
Purdue coach Jeff Brohm tested positive for COVID-19 on October 19, did not lead the season opener and returned to coach on October 31.
“I’ve spoken with Coach Day, and he’s doing fine physically,” OSU athletic director Gene Smith said in the press release. “I feel bad for Coach and for the members of the program who have been diagnosed with a positive test. Coach Day and this team have been true leaders in managing things throughout this pandemic.
“Our team want to play this game, and we’re going to do everything we can to make it happen. All decisions regarding the well-being of our student-athletes and staff will continue to be guided by our medical staff.
Day has spoken repeatedly of the daily stress of waiting for the results of rapid program-wide antigen tests. The Ohio State game in Maryland earlier this month was called off due to the Terrapin outbreak.
Day said he has asked his players to assume that everyone they come in contact with is infected with the virus and to act accordingly.
“It’s week to week, day to day, of course,” Day said on November 3. “You hold your breath all week. You hold your breath the same day.
The state of Ohio did not release its usual situation report on Friday morning, saying instead it would do so at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
• Ohio State Football Withholds State of Illinois Players Report As It Deals With Coronavirus Cases
The understanding for the 2020 season has been that the report is tenuous, as players and staff are tested for COVID-19 daily by Big Ten protocol. In that case, due to contact tracing and pending test results, the state of Ohio may have more players than usual whose status remains on hold for Saturday’s kick-off at midday.
The situation report will have relevance beyond Saturday’s game. Players with confirmed positive COVID-19 tests must be absent from competition for at least 21 days. This means that any player in Ohio State who recently tested positive this week cannot play in any of the last three games: Saturday at Illinois, December 5 at Michigan State, and December 12 against Michigan. .
The Ohio State Status Report does not distinguish between illness, injury or discipline reasons for player absences.
The first reports of an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases within the OSU program came out on Wednesday evening. A source told cleveland.com that the cases involved players, coaches and other staff. The state of Ohio was trying to isolate those affected and continue preparations for Saturday’s game.
Ohio State practiced to some extent on Thursday and hosted a team Thanksgiving meal. Players confirmed to participate, according to photos and videos released by the team, included quarterback Justin Fields, offensive linemen Josh Myers, Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere, linebacker Baron Browning and defensive end Jonathon Cooper.
If the number of positive tests increases with additional testing this week or in the future, the decision to continue the team’s activities could be out of the hands of Ohio State.
According to the Big Ten protocols, teams facing cases among more than 5% of team members and more than 7.5% of the program’s “population” – a combination of players, coaches, managers, coaches and other staff – must stop operations.
Positive tests in the range of 2.5 to 5% for a team and 3.5 to 7.5% for the population mean that a program must change its training and meeting schedule and “consider the viability”. to continue with the scheduled competition ”. Without knowing the exact number of people affected so far, it is possible that OSU has already reached this intermediate threshold.
– This post was updated at 5:05 p.m. EST to reflect new information from OSU on when Ryan Day could return to the team.
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