Kean Football trying to stay in tune during quarantine

By Ruben Nieves | Published by April 23, 2020

With the spread of the Coronavirus, many seasons, recruitments and other events have been canceled throughout the country. Kean Football head coach Dan Garrett and his team have been staying in tune as they hope to be back on the field on time. 

“With the team, we have group chats via text messages and we also have two Zoom meetings, where we split the team in half,’’ said Garrett. 

Garrett and the rest of the coaching staff have weekly meetings through Zoom where they split the team in half based on if they are on offense or defense. The team has meetings based on leadership development and Coach Garrett is a part of every Zoom meeting with his team.

Coach Garrett and the coaching staff have also created an eight-week plan of workouts for players to keep them in shape while this pandemic continues.

“The workouts were things you can do at home but still feel like you accomplished some. Different workouts such as push-ups, different dumbbell workouts and core workouts,” said junior running back David Thomas. 

As the coronavirus spreads throughout the country, coach Garrett has provided advice to his team on how to stay healthy and safe as they await the end of quarantine. He has asked his team to follow all social distancing guidelines and to do their part in following these guidelines.

“Told them to listen to all the guidelines being put out there. Follow social distancing and stay home and take all the necessary precautions,” said Garrett. 

Since recruitment has been suspended by the NCAA due to the coronavirus, Garrett was able to meet with top recruits before all of the bans and cancellations of college athletics.

“We already had all of our on-campus visits. We completed them the first week in March” said Garrett. 

Garrett has said they have been staying in contact with their top student-athletes whether it’s through text, email, and through social media. Now they await to see who will commit here at Kean. 

“There are more factors that we are taking into consideration during this pandemic. We understand the situation a lot of families may be going through. So we are being very empathetic, patient, and understanding,” said Garrett. 

Although the season is still a long way from starting, David Thomas was able to give his opinion on if training camp and the season will start on time.  

“Yes I do believe it will start on time if we all do our part and listen to our leaders” said Thomas.

Garrett didn’t give an exact answer on whether he believes the season will start on time, he feels we still have a lot of time left before we can worry about that.

“I’m very cognizant of the fact there are more important things to worry about other than a football season, and don’t get me wrong I absolutely love football and love my job and everything that comes with that responsibility of being called coach,” said Garrett. 

Despite the season still a long way from beginning, coach Garrett has set some early goals for his team.

“The goal right now is to be the best version of yourself each day,” said Garrett. 

His goal also set for this season is to win the NJAC championship and get into the NCAA playoffs. Thomas has set his own personal goals for himself on being a better player and a better teammate. 

“My personal goals are to compete, and be the best teammate I can be,” Thomas said. “Be a valuable contributor to the team in any capacity that will benefit the team.” 

Kean Football will start the season on the road against Delaware Valley University on Sept. 4.

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