NC State AD Boo Corrigan provides update on athletics department

NC State shut down all athletic activities early this week after a coronavirus cluster was discovered inside the athletics department. More than 20 cases were found, including positives within the football program. Boo Corrigan provided an update Friday, and while football remains on the shelf, there is good news, as a dozen programs have been cleared to resume workouts.

Corrigan’s statement:

We wanted to provide an update on the status of NC State Athletics after athletic-related activities were temporarily paused on Monday. We have tested every single team since we paused activities and we’re glad we can announce a resumption of activities today for 12 of our programs. We will be testing our football program again, consistent with our process of testing twice per week, and will make a decision on next possible steps when we have additional information available to us. We will continue to evaluate the most responsible path forward for our remaining programs and will provide further updates as possible.

NC State recently upped its testing regimen from once a week to twice a week for the football program. Any players who were quarantined early this week will still be isolated for a while, but hopefully the healthy portion of the program can get back on the practice field next week.

Already this has pushed the Pack’s season back by a week, with the game on Sept. 12 against Virginia Tech moved to the 26th, making the Sept. 19 game against Wake Forest the new season-opener.

A report from the N&O on Monday suggested that a student trainer who tested positive for coronavirus may have led to the outbreak among athletes. Which also goes to show how difficult it is for an athletics department to insulate players—they rely on these student staffers, and it’s impossible to control what they are doing when they go home. Even if they’re doing all the right things, they’re still exposed to the general student population, and this is what can happen.

Exhausting, ain’t it.