KU football’s Les Miles skeptical of COVID-19 opt out benefits - The Hutchinson News
LAWRENCE — Regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Les Miles last week declared football players are "safer on the field than they would be in another position."
When asked Wednesday whether any members of the Kansas football team had discussed opting out of the upcoming season due to concerns about the virus, the second-year Jayhawk head coach took his stance a step further.
"If they opt out because of the pandemic, then they opt into the pandemic," Miles said at a news conference. "The last I saw it, the pandemic was worldwide, OK? So I don’t know what their advantage is to turn at this point away from what would be a good finish to a college career and opportunity to advance their abilities and then have a choice whether to go off to the NFL or to stay and compete. So we’d love to have them stay and compete."
Wednesday also brought news that at least one Jayhawk player has elected to sit out.
Antione Frazier, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman out of Huffman, Texas, has opted out of the 2020 season, said Miles, who verified an earlier report of Frazier’s entry into the transfer portal. A KU spokesperson later confirmed that Frazier’s decision was motivated by COVID-19 concerns.
"That’s a decision that he made," Miles said. "I think we’re really going to be in pretty good shape. I think it does affect the depth some. … We’ll have some other tackles that we’ll be able to rotate through, so we feel pretty good. And we like some of the young guys. We don’t want to necessarily slow up their progress."
A former three-star prospect, Frazier appeared in 24 games across his first three seasons at KU before redshirting in 2019. He tweeted Wednesday afternoon that he wants to continue his football career at the "best opportunity possible."
"I think everybody makes a personal decision there," Miles said. "He just turned and went in that direction, and frankly, we wish him all the best and think he’ll make a difference someplace."
Miles’ belief that players who opt out are going to "opt into the pandemic," combined with the transfer portal entry of the lone Jayhawk that expressed interest in sitting out, begs a question: Would Miles allow a player who decides to forgo this season to remain on the Jayhawk roster?
"If they basically don’t want to play anymore, I mean, I don’t have— certainly if it’s based on the idea that they have not progressed to this point or a bunch of other coronavirus interest or reasons for not being as talented as they would normally be, yeah, they can stay on campus," Miles responded. "You bet."
Daniels a QB contender
Miles, who last week listed senior Thomas MacVittie and juniors Miles Kendrick and Miles Fallin as the contenders for the starting quarterback role, added true freshman Jalon Daniels to that list Wednesday.
"I think Jalon Daniels is fortunate in the fact that he’s come from a (high school) program that allowed him to make checks," Miles said. "Not that that’s what we do, but the fact that his experience in high school will allow him the abilities to compete at a very high level early in his college career."
The 6-foot, 200-pound signal caller was a three-star recruit out of Lawndale (Calif.) High School, where as a junior he completed 136 of 237 pass attempts for 2,351 yards and 26 touchdowns while also running for 940 yards and 10 touchdowns.
No new quarantines
Miles reported no Jayhawk players are in isolation over coronavirus-related issues, a statistic he was "proud" to announce.
"We’re happiest about that," Miles said.
KU, which has held 11 practices and two scrimmages, opens the season against Coastal Carolina on Sept. 12 in Lawrence.
2020-08-26 23:39:38Z
https://www.hutchnews.com/sports/20200826/ku-footballrsquos-les-miles-skeptical-of-covid-19-opt-out-benefits
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