Ohio State's Ryan Day: Some Coaches Aren't Going Home to Limit COVID Exposure

Some members of Ohio State's football staff are taking extreme measures as the Buckeyes prepare to begin their 2020 season against Nebraska on Oct. 24.

Head coach Ryan Day explained how some coaches are refraining from staying at their homes.

"Didn't put any guidelines in place or tell somebody how to handle their business at all," Day said, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "We just talked about how having school-aged children who are going to school is a risk. They're at school, they're exposed. Some of the sports leagues are still going on and they're playing. It's an exposure, it's an unknown, so to be aware of it; each guy's handling it their own way."

Day added that coaches haven't completely isolated themselves from their family members and that the 41-year-old is "still trying to figure this part of it out" with his family.

For a number of reasons, setting up any sort of bubble tied to the college football season is impossible. That leaves teams at the mercy of the pandemic.

Virginia Tech, for example, was without 23 players for its 45-24 win over NC State last Saturday. It remains unclear how many of those absences were COVID-19-related.

The Big Ten originally announced in August it was postponing all fall sports because of the pandemic. Day was among those from within the conference who criticized the decision.

Big Ten officials reversed course, announcing on Sept. 16 that it was instituting new COVID-19 health and safety protocols while paving the way for football to return on the weekend of October 23-24. Any athlete who tests positive for COVID-19 is subject to further testing and a 21-day period in isolation.

Ohio State has 120 football players and 50 staffers who get tested daily under the Big Ten's new policy.