Now that preseason games have been cancelled the Chargers could practice at SoFi Stadium according to head coach Anthony Lynn.
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00:00Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Peterson informed the team Sunday night that he has
00:11tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the second head coach to test positive for
00:16COVID.
00:17Now, players have the option to opt out of the season, but coaches do not.
00:20So joining me now is MMQB senior writer Albert Breer.
00:24And Albert, considering that coaches don't have a union in place to bargain for their
00:28job security in this position, what option do coaches have with the risks involved in
00:34this season?
00:35Yeah, well, I think we can start with why they don't have a union.
00:38They choose not to have a union, and a big part of that is because they don't want their
00:41salaries controlled.
00:42And that's actually worked out pretty well for them if you look at the top end of what
00:46NFL coaches are making.
00:48That said, like you said, there is that concern, and some coaches have that concern.
00:52I've talked to guys who have heart issues, who have asthma.
00:56So a lot of the same things that players would consider in opting out, really, a lot
01:01of the coaches are dealing with that as well.
01:03And the other thing you want to consider here too, Madeline, that I think is an interesting
01:06kind of element of this, coaches are going to be in contact with more people inside the
01:11building.
01:12And they're going to have more touch points because they are talking to each other.
01:15And of course, every coach in some level is involved with every player.
01:19And so I do think that there's definitely some reason for some coaches to be concerned.
01:24And certainly, I've heard some of those concerns voiced privately.
01:28And for right now, of course, it's up to the teams to make decisions on whether or not
01:32to give them the option to opt out.
01:34And as the league evolves in its assessment and its way that it's approaching this season
01:39amid the coronavirus, have there been clear protocols put in place if a coach is positive
01:44and is forced to miss a game?
01:45Yeah, you know, that part of it's really interesting because I'd heard some people say, well, couldn't
01:50the guy just coach from a suite because the suites theoretically are going to be empty
01:54or the broadcast booth because there could be empty broadcast booths.
01:58And I was told, no, like there will not be like a Hugh Freeze type of situation where
02:02you're coaching from somewhere else that, you know, if a guy does get COVID, that he
02:06will be forced to be sidelined.
02:08And this is something that teams have talked about too.
02:10I mean, you consider how quickly this thing can spread, how contagious the virus is.
02:16You know, coaching staffs have discussed the contingencies, you know, where, you know,
02:20maybe you'd have a head coach and a coordinator go down and who would take over in situations
02:25like that.
02:26So certainly that's something that they've got to talk through.
02:28And there are a lot of kind of worst case scenarios that the coaching staffs have had
02:34to kind of discuss.
02:35How would we handle X?
02:36How would we handle Y?
02:38How would we handle Z?
02:40And you know, I think that that's something that at least they've had time to discuss.
02:44And so, you know, over April and June, April and May and June, they have talked about those
02:48sorts of things.
02:49And I'd say most coaching staffs now have prepared themselves for what would happen
02:54in a worst case scenario.
02:55That said, of course, you know, when you lose a couple of important people off of your staff
03:00who are sort of the top of the flow chart, that could certainly be a problem on game
03:03day.
03:04MMQB senior writer, Albert Breer, thank you so much for the insight.
03:08All right.
03:09Thanks, Madeline.