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The Wolverines have been back on campus performing some semblance of workouts since mid-June, with the players reporting at that time for voluntary workouts. Then, on July 24, it inches closer to traditional, with the workouts being less of the strength and conditioning variety, as the team turned to organized walkthroughs, meaning the coaching staff could be involved — though not in the same way they could for traditional practices.
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On Wednesday, the Big Ten announced that its member institutions could start working towards a season in earnest, with fall camps allowed to open on Aug. 7 (though Ohio State managed to begin Aug. 6 — though it was noted in Wednesday’s release from the Big Ten: ‘Teams can begin preseason practices on Friday, Aug. 7, or earlier if permitted under NCAA guidelines related to first dates of scheduled competition), given that the season is still set to begin on Sept. 5 — barring any setbacks.
While it may seem like an obvious deal that Michigan would thus begin fall camp on Aug. 7, given uncertainty facing some programs, any setbacks or delays wouldn’t be terribly surprising. However, WolverinesWire has confirmed with a team spokesperson that Michigan is, indeed, opening fall camp on Friday — the first allowable date as set by the conference — giving the team a little less than a month to prepare for the 2020 season.
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Naturally, the season is still mired in uncertainty, given the COVID-19 pandemic. While Michigan has had 29 positive tests out of 1,005 (according to the data released by the athletic department on July 31) between both student-athletes and staff, other schools have seen larger outbreaks since their returns, causing them to have to pause football activity.
With fall camp beginning in Ann Arbor, multiple position battles will take place in earnest, namely for quarterback and multiple offensive line positions. The Wolverines were one of many teams that missed spring ball entirely due to coronavirus, where some teams were able to get a few practices in before students were sent home.
If there are no setbacks, Michigan football will practice starting Friday, with the season set to open Sept. 5 against Purdue in Ann Arbor.
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