Football teams are accustomed to adjusting the fly.

But there are no audibles in the playbook to prepare for what this fall holds.

The coronavirus pandemic created a cloud of uncertainty that made the 2020 season anything but a lock.

Schools implemented health and safety plans to ensure that bring athletes back on campus for open workouts, and worked through unexpected delays and a bevy of last minute schedule changes to bring us here, on the doorstep of on of the most unlikely - and unpredictable - seasons ever.

The final outcome is far from certain, but it’s almost time for kickoff.

Are you ready for some football?

“In all my years of coaching this is certainly the most unique year I’ve ever been around,” said Marian head coach Stan Dakosty. “I I think the fact that we have the chance to play is great, but nothing is guaranteed. This year nothing is guaranteed. We’re not guaranteed that we’re going to play next week.

“So you understand the situation, but it doesn’t make it any easier. Everybody is in the same situation. It’s a much different outlook than we had before.”

As the face of Marian football for 40 seasons, Dakosty led the Colts to 309 wins, seven District 11 titles, six conference championships and the 1990 PIAA state crown during a decorated career before stepping down in 2016.

The time away allowed Dakosty to spend time with his family, something he cherished.

But his passion for the game remained as strong as when he initially began his tenure at Marian in 1977.

And it’s something that will continue when Dakosty leads the Colts once again in 2020, this time with a much different perspective on the game he loves.

“We talk consistently about the fact that we can only deal with what we can deal with,” he said. “If something happens, and we lose a scrimmage, lose a game and can’t play or have to change our schedule, that’s where it is. We can’t change that. What we have to do is take care of our business, try to become better football teams, coaches and players, every day. If we do that, and the opportunity presents itself to play one game, eight games, 10 games, then let’s take advantage of it. But what we have to do is prepare day by day for the day that we have, anticipating that. Let’s pay attention to things, we’re this much closer to our first game now so let’s be mindful of the social distancing, and masks and everything, and let’s not slip up and do the best we can. We’re close, now let’s try to make sure we get to that point.”

Settling in

While Dakosty has the better part of four decades under his belt as head coach, Blaec Saeger is getting ready to start his second year in charge at Pleasant Valley.

“It has been one massive roller coaster ride,” said Saeger. “What I thought would be an easier transition for me my second year, became something I’ve never had to deal with, as with every coach. How do you play football and social distance at the same time?

“But PV put out a great plan and a great set of protocols, we followed them and got as much done as humanly possible under the guidelines and I think we did a really good job of following our plan and keeping everybody safe, which was our fist priority, and we made it through. We had our last full team voluntary workout then we’ll lift some weights and next Tuesday (Sept. 8), we’re going for real. We’re going to put our shoulder pads on and play football again. There were a lot of times during these last six months where I did not think that day was going to come.”

The Bears are the only area team in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and will begin its season Oct. 2 at Pocono Mountain East. The five-week schedule concludes Oct. 30 at Stroudsburg and consists of only Monroe County schools.

“At this point, our schedule it out and it’s right there in front of us,” said Saeger. “We’re playing for the Bucket Week 1 against Pocono East; it’s real. It’s been sinking in, and it will really sink in when we go for real.

“It’s an exciting time, a stressful time. Combine that with the opening of school, and it’s a challenge for everyone. But my kids are doing a great job of it, and I’m really proud of them.”

While the process hasn’t always been easy, Saeger has made the most of the extra time to prepare.

“We had a great summer but when you’re playing football six-feet apart there’s only so many things you can do,” Saeger said. “If we had to play a football game next week we would not be anywhere near ready. We need this time; we’re just now able to start playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played on the field and practice the way it’s supposed to be. We need those days in pads, and those days in helmets to go out and hit. The delay, the push back, I’m sure it’s what most teams need.

“We really tried to focus on the details that we could. Last year, I think one of the mistakes I made was trying to put in too much stuff. I wanted to get my whole playbook into one year. We don’t have that many plays in right now but we’ve just repped them and repped them and repped them and tried to fix all the little details as best we could, and I think this time helped us as a young, rebuilding program to really be able to slow down and focus on the details.”

Together, but apart

The new normal of what the 2020 season will look like includes many layers, but a common theme for most area coaches.

“The biggest thing for me has been adjustment and versatility,” said Lehighton mentor Tom McCarroll. “We talked to our kids about changes and adversity, and it comes in all different fashions. Obviously, we have a certain set of adversities and challenges that we’re going to face and that we know what we’re going to get year in, and year out around the game of football. But a lot of times we also talk about having adversity through the rest of your life where you can’t predict it, and there’s no blueprint for it. The little challenges that you have now, you have to try to take the bits and pieces that help you get through them and be able to transfer those and translate those to the bigger things in your life. This is a big deal.”

For McCarroll, Tribe Pride is more than just a motto, it’s a culture that the staff and school district have created to make sure that each one of their players has the support system they need to work through these difficult times.

“Whether it has affected kids directly or not with their families ... we’re here as a group to try to support each other, we’re here as a coaching staff to support these kids and try to be here for them in any capacity that we can,” he said. “This is another one of those types of challenges and adversities that we try as coaches to prepare them for at some point in their lives. And it’s right here, smack dab in our face, and we’re all dealing with it. But if there’s a good thing about sports being able to get off the ground at least they’re allowed to be around each other and they can share the time together. And if anybody is struggling with any of this stuff, they can lean on each other and hopefully in whatever way they need to. Maybe it’s unspoken; maybe it’s just the sense of normalcy to be in a locker room and be on a field and putting a helmet on. Maybe just doing that makes them feel better. And I think that’s important.

“When everything kind of started, it was difficult. There’s certainly uncertainty right now. But when it first happened, the shutdown back in March left a lot of doubt, really very little information and you were really unsure of when you would be able to get back with your kids as far as coaching goes. So you try to do the best you can with Zoom meetings, and we met with our kids as a team, as did our position coaches, who met with their groups. We tried to put out information for the kids as far as the at-home workout with them not being able to get to gyms and certain facilities. It was an opportunity to reevaluate how things needed to be done at that time.”

On the sidelines

and in the stands

Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf on Sept. 2 updated his guidance for everyone involved in sport activities, opening the door for spectators at events.

Wolf, who previously recommended no Pre-K to 12 school sports - which includes Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) competitions - until January 2021 due to significant health risks to participants and the public, issued guidance that all sports-related activities must adhere to the gathering limitations set forth by the Governor’s Plan for Phased Reopening (25 or fewer people for indoor activity, 250 or fewer people for outdoor activity) and the facility as a whole may not exceed 50 percent of total occupancy otherwise permitted by law.

All individuals present at the facility at which such activities are held count toward gathering limitations and must comply with face covering order and social distancing guidelines.

But the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last week passed House Bill 2787 which would give school boards the power to decide whether they will allow sports and extracurricular activities to occur this year, whether spectators can attend, and how many.

The bill will go to the Senate next for consideration.

The Schuylkill League released the following statement on Wolf’s directive of a 250-person cap at outside events last week.

“The genesis of our decision is both student and health centered, primarily focusing on our students who participate in school sponsored activities,” the statement read. “It is the decision of both Schuylkill League Superintendents and the Schuylkill League Executive Committee that each away school will only be able a set number of student athletes, coaches, and essential game workers. All away fans will not be granted access. We understand that this will upset fans and parents, however our focus is on allowing our students who participate in student activities. Each school who participates in our league is making an effort to present livestreaming opportunities for all parents and fans.”

It followed a similar announcement by the Colonial League.

“Since current guidance allows visitors and spectators to attend in-person contests, sports specific spectator guidelines of host outdoor facilities are encouraged,” it read. “The limit of 250 persons at any outdoor contest is challenging to maximize participation of our athletes and thus allow all spectators. Therefore, we are encouraging the following of our members to maximize participation of our student athletes. Where possible, only home parents and possibly siblings of athletes should be allowed to attend when the event nears maximum capacity.All members are encouraged to provide an online livestream of all contests.”

The league also stated that “contests should not start and will be suspended by event management and/or PIAA officials if representatives from the member schools are not in compliance with current Pennsylvania and/or School District Return to Sport Plans.”

Steps forward

Once the door opened for workouts to begin after schools adopted their own health and safety plans in the middle of the summer, so did the playbook.

“We started going outside, practicing three days a week with the team up in the field,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “And just working hard; working hard as a team, working hard as individuals and as individuals in society on just doing the right thing.

“I think we’re figuring some things out as we go.”

Despite Wolf’s recommendation to delay fall sports until next year and a subsequent two-week delay on the status of the fall season, the PIAA voted on Aug. 21 to proceed beginning Aug. 24, based on local school decisions.

The news was the greenlight teams had been waiting for, but it also meant a significant amount of work had to be done in a short amount of time to put schedules together and figure out what the season would look like.

It also meant that a much anticipated Colonial League-Schuylkill League football conglomerate would be delayed until 2021, with both leagues opting to stay in-house.

The Schuylkill League will begin an eight-week slate Friday, while the Colonial League begins a six-week stretch on Sept. 25. The Tigers will host Palisades on Sept. 11 and Pen Argyl on Sept. 18 prior to their league schedule.

“We were really excited about the new league schedule, coming up with Tamaqua right out of the gate,” said Snyder of what was the team’s originally planned season opener. “That would have been new, that would have been different. But this hit, and I think all that sort of went to the back burner. But we’re just happy and excited about the opportunity to play. For us as coaches and the kids, we’ll play anybody, anywhere at anytime at this point. We can adapt, that’s nothing new for a football coach and a team to adapt to scout to come up with game plans. But for however many games, I think every coach is looking at this thing in the short term, meaning we want to have playoffs if we have them and we want a full season. But we’re just looking at this as Week 1 because it could be gone tomorrow.

“We want to play a full season at this point, but we’re looking for each opportunity and we’ll take it as they come and we’ll handle that and then we’ll move on to the next one, and we’ll cherish every moment and every opportunity that we have this year as a team. These seniors will never get another senior year of football back, so every day at practice we stress those things and to make sure they leave it all out there.”

Safety first

When they are practicing, it’s been full of different sights and sounds - and smells.

“It starts with the daily health screenings and we collect those papers each and every day,” Snyder said of the COVID checks athletes must do before participating. “And the locker room is typically time for camaraderie, a time for team bonding and those types of things. But we simply weren’t even in the locker room until late July when we first got our equipment. And we typically go in fleets of five to change and quickly get outside to practice or what have you. So that whole dynamic has changed.

“And anytime you’re inside, obviously, you need a mask on. On the practice field, we have to maintain social distance and make sure we’re wiping down footballs on a consistent basis, and those are just things we have to do.”

And they’re happy to do it if it means they get to play.

“I think the fact that we went through so much in the summer, as far as taking those precautions, made it a little easier,” said McCarroll, whose team has separate water bottles for each kid. “But now that you’re starting to talk about the close contact, the ins and the outs of what football is, trying to game plan and minimize ... what’s necessary and what’s not. I think everybody is doing the same thing as far as all of the screenings, making sure spaces are as clean as possible. Our kids spend very, very little time in a locker room anymore.

“And for me as a coach, I’m as much a housecleaner as I am a coach now. Every day I’m washing uniforms, spraying down equipment, spraying down helmets, shoulder pads. everything. Just because that’s what needs to be done to put our kids in the best situation to be safe and participate whenever the time comes.”

What’s next

The start of the high school football season is a time-honored tradition, one that brings with it as much pomp and circumstance as event around.

The Friday Night Lights will be glaring as teams take the field for the first time in the coming weeks.

But so will the reminders that football - and society - have a vastly different look in 2020.

“There’s just so many layers to this, and we have to do this best job we can to try to balance all of it,” said McCarroll. “It’s cliché to say that in sports it takes a team effort, but it really does. It’s bigger than just the players and the coaches; it really is a community effort, from the administration to parents to the players and everybody in between. I know our district has done a really good job of supporting the kids, supporting the parents and the sports programs, all the while not putting them directly in harms way.

“As much as you’re coaching these kids Xs and Os, you’re also constantly reminding them that even though it feels normal getting on the field and running routes and doing what we have to do, there are still things that we have to do differently every single day.”