All eyes on football’s return, but each Mizzou fall sport navigates own uncertainties
Missouri volleyball coach Joshua Taylor was on his way to building a foundation.
After a successful 2019 season in which he shed an “interim” tag to become the Tigers’ full-time coach, Taylor had embarked on his first full offseason. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, throwing a wrench in his plans and those of Mizzou’s other sports programs.
Typically, he said, March and April are busy months as he hits the road once or twice a week to recruit. While recruiting slows down in May, the staff usually has about 20 hours per week to work with current MU athletes — valuable sweat equity on the way to a successful culture.
That, too, was halted.
“When that got cut, it was a little upsetting,” Taylor said. “We thought we were getting better at the little things we need to get better at to improve on last season’s record. … It’s a lot quieter than normal.”
While all eyes are on the looming return of college football — financially and otherwise — other fall sports, such as volleyball and soccer, face their share of uncertainty, too. Missouri soccer coach Bryan Blitz said he and his fellow Southeastern Conference coaches have talked about different models for the upcoming season, but nothing is clear yet.
“There are so many models out there, but there’s no concrete model,” Blitz said. “(SEC) commissioner (Greg) Sankey said the virus is in charge of all of us.”
Here’s one fact: Starting June 8, SEC student-athletes will be allowed to return to campus for voluntary workouts. That decision came on the heels of the NCAA’s announcement that student-athletes could actually return as early as June 1.
Missouri’s plan is to have its football players come back to campus first, then phase in other athletes via a staggered approach. In that scenario, fall sports athletes will be the first MU athletes allowed to return to Columbia, a Mizzou spokesperson said.
The finer details of the school’s phased plan aren’t yet known, Blitz said — the soccer program hasn’t yet received a target date for when to reconvene. Once the athletic administration smooths out any issues with testing and protocols encountered during the football team’s return, Blitz said, that picture should become more clear.
He sees the sense in this approach, as opposed to potentially encountering disruptions if a problem arose as everyone was allowed back at once.
“I’d rather not have a stop and start,” Blitz said. “Our administration is doing such a good job. We have some really qualified people.”
Taylor, the volleyball coach, said his team usually begins two-a-day practices in mid-August. But with spring workouts washed away, how athletes return to playing shape probably won’t look the same.
He said it’ll come down to preparation and watching how his players respond to the resumption of practice.
“There’s a bunch of different models being thrown out for seasons,” Taylor said. “It’s being prepared for every single model. Understanding that it’s going to be much different in previous years. But it’s going to be different for everyone.”
Taylor said he’s leaning on past experiences to help him navigate the current uncertainty.
When he was an assistant coach, he was in charge of the squad’s spring training schedule. He has also served as a recruiting coordinator since arriving in Columbia.
Taylor said he meets with the team twice a week via video chat. For each session, a different player is in charge of the call — and a topic of her choosing. The coach said these discussions often focus on how the players can improve emotionally and interpersonally.
He said they really haven’t spoken much about volleyball since the shutdown began.
“When it comes to developing a new culture, that’s something that takes a good amount of time,” Taylor said. “I definitely have a different standard for the team than what we previously had. Kind of creating that dynamic, that new culture and what’s okay and what’s not.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 3:14 PM.