Michigan football embraces new normal: 'We don't want any setbacks'

For a couple of months, Ann Arbor felt like a ghost town to Kwity Paye. 

As the coronavirus outbreak raged through America and forced Michigan to shut down, Paye stayed on campus, watching as others left. 

Students and fellow teammates went home. And according to Paye, a town that is "usually full of life" took on a different tone. 

“It was just kind of sad," Paye said on Monday's episode of the "In the Trenches" podcast with Jon Jansen. "It was just dead and there was nobody really here. It was kind of depressing at first."

Slowly, though, things are starting to come back to normal. When Paye drives up State Street, he can see students outside their houses, playing beer pong on their front lawns. 

[ Michigan will make announcement about football schedule 'in the weeks ahead' ]

As others have returned to Ann Arbor, so has the rest of Michigan football. Paye's sense of isolation is gone — and though things are different as the Wolverines try to limit the spread of COVID-19, he is simply glad to be reunited with his teammates. 

"It feels great just to be able to come back with the boys and lift with them," he said. "We’ve been in really, really small groups, like groups of seven for one coach each. Although we’re still doing social distancing and stuff like that, it’s just fun to see our guys in the weight room lifting and training together again.”

Two weeks ago, the players returned to campus and underwent testing for COVID-19. They began voluntary workouts last week following a protocol that ensured they complied with the state government's social distancing guidelines. And Tuesday, the team began "player-led practices."

How does everything work? 

Very carefully, according to Paye.

When the players arrive at Schembechler Hall, they enter through the front of the building (referred to as the "museum side" because of the historical artifacts it contains). They get their temperature checked and fill out a daily survey that asks whether they are experiencing any symptoms related to COVID-19. After that, they walk through the locker room, pick up their equipment and change.

[ Michigan athletics brings back three teams for voluntary workouts with protocols ]

"You can never come back from where you came, it’s a continued forward line," Paye said, "so once you get your stuff and you change in the locker room, you exit through the back and you can’t come back through the front room."

Then the players are allowed to conduct socially distanced workouts. 

"Our guys are doing a very great job of keeping us safe and making sure we’re wearing masks everywhere we go on the field and just making sure we’re not spreading or contracting the virus in any way," he said. 

There are other precautionary measures in place. Players must wash their hands before touching any doors or water bottles. Strength coaches must wear masks, and if they spot players who are lifting weights, they must wear additional head gear designed to prevent transmission of germs. 

“It’s been kind of weird, but I’m just glad we’re back and I’m glad we’re taking all these extra precautions compared to other schools in the country," he said. "Those guys have been getting 20, 30 cases and we’ve been doing extremely well.”

Team leaders also have emphasized the importance of wearing masks. It's all in preparation for a season that Paye and his teammates hope will actually take place this fall.

“I feel really comfortable walking into a building and leaving the building," he said. "I feel like our guys are doing a great job of keeping everyone safe because we really want a season this year. We told our boys from the jump, people are going to start coming back to campus, and people are going to want to have fun and stuff like that, but we just have to keep away from all of that because we have a season to prepare for and we don’t want any setbacks.

“I just can’t wait until we get to play that first game and be back on the field with my brothers, doing what we do best — playing ball.”

Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.