The Race to Return: How FSU got back to work before nearly everyone else

'IF THEY SAY GO ...'

When it comes to the coronavirus and its potential impact on the upcoming college football season, there are far more questions than answers. That is true today -- one month before the season is set to begin -- and it was certainly true during the weeks after the sports world was put on hiatus back in mid-March.

At the time, coaches and officials at Florida State -- like on every campus across America -- didn't know when they might be reunited with their players, what needed to happen for that to become a reality, or even who would make that decision.

“You’re dealing with so many different levels,” Norvell's chief of staff, Bruce Warwick, told Warchant during an April interview. “You’re dealing with the federal government and the CDC. You’re dealing with the governor. Florida State’s a state university, so you’re dealing with a president and a Board of Trustees and a Board of Governors. Then being in Tallahassee, you’re dealing with the local government.

“Then on the athletics side, you have the ACC and the NCAA. So you have all of these parties that could have a factor in how we get restarted. So we don’t know who is going to take the lead.”

As early as April, once it became clear that student-athletes wouldn't be returning to campus for an extended period of time, FSU staffers began working through a long list of hypotheticals.

At first, they wondered if they'd be able to bring the team back together during the summer to get in the final weeks of spring practice they lost in March. Then when that concept fizzled, they hoped their players would at least be permitted to return to campus for workouts.

Some players had returned to their hometowns and didn't have access to weights or fitness equipment. Some had gym memberships, but those were closing due to state restrictions.

The last thing the coaches and athletic training staff wanted was to have the entire team return for preseason camp in August without any semblance of offseason conditioning or strength training. It wouldn't be conducive to success, and it might not be safe.

Yet as the spring months inched toward summer, there was no indication of how or when things might get back to normal.

“We spend so much time trying to guess and go through hypothetical situations -- from a calendar standpoint, a logistical standpoint," Warwick complained to an FSU administrator in late April. “We spend so much time planning for hypotheticals because we don’t know how we’re going to come out of this."

Said defensive coordinator Adam Fuller: "At first they would tell us, 'Well, it’s definitely going to be another week.' Then it was, ‘It’s definitely going to be another month.’”

When it came to gathering information, however, the Seminoles took solace in knowing they had better connections than most.

From a state government perspective, few schools could be better positioned than FSU. John Thrasher, the university's president, was a longtime state legislator and former Speaker of the House. He and athletics director David Coburn, who worked for three decades in the Florida Legislature, were able to tap into their long list of contacts to get a feel for where the state was headed in response to the pandemic.

“We have a very unique situation," Warwick said. "That is very beneficial for us."

Coburn and FSU's other top administrators also took part in conference calls with the ACC and NCAA to receive weekly updates, and Norvell had his own connections.

Not only was the Seminoles' first-year coach taking part in weekly meetings with the conference's other head coaches, but he also was selected to serve on a working subcommittee that featured coaches and A.D.s from around the ACC.

That provided him with access to all of the various concepts being considered at the conference and NCAA levels, and it also allowed him to advocate on behalf of his own program.

“It’s good because it gives the ACC a perspective from a new football coach,” Warwick said during a May interview. “His challenges are different than an established program with an established head coach. So I’m glad they put him on there. It’s important that our challenges are heard. It’s different if you’re a Clemson and you’re well-established, as opposed to what we’re dealing with coming in -- trying to get your system and your program in place.”