MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia's Neal Brown was happy to finally be back out on the football field with his guys on Monday doing what he loves to do most – coach football.
 
"It's been a tough last five months," he said. "I think it's been a tough last five months for everybody."
 
Judging by what has transpired on social media since this past Saturday when the Mid-American Conference announced it was suspending sports for the fall, even tougher days may lie ahead.
 
Then came a report earlier this morning that the Big Ten Conference is considering shutting down sports as well, which might trigger a chain reaction of closures from Seattle to Miami.
 
A conference considering canceling its season while many of its teams are still practicing for a season it is considering canceling is a pretty good example of where we have gotten with the coronavirus.
 
So where do we go from here?
 
That's a great question, one Brown asked toward the end of today's 35-minute video conference with media.
 
"I think the biggest question is – and this is something that people aren't talking about – what is the plan if we don't play?" he asked. "Everybody is saying, 'Hey, we've got to make decisions' well what is the plan? How do we handle these 100 student-athletes we've got, all of those student-athletes from all these Power 5 schools and Group of 5 schools?
 
"We broke out of here in March and all sports ended and nobody really had a plan because we didn't see this coming," he continued. "We didn't have time to plan. Before we make a decision about if we're going to play or if we are not going to play we've got to make decisions about what it's going to look like if we don't play."
 
Brown, for one, is advocating that college football be played this fall. He believes it can be done safely and effectively.
 
Just go back and read yesterday's story about all of the safety procedures and protocols put in place before the players even arrive at the stadium. It isn't like they just sat down the Sunday before the start of fall camp and said, "This is what we're going to do."
 
These things aren't done in a half-baked, willy-nilly fashion. A lot of time, thought and effort went into this involving some of the leading professionals in the health care industry.
 
Is it 100% fool-proof? 
 
What is?
 
But Brown stands by what they are doing in order to play college football this fall.
 
"The thing we always talk about is respect the virus," he said. "My question is I know the medical experts have to look at this from the medical point of view. It's serious. It's a novel virus, which means it's new. We don't know the long-term effects, but we continue to garner information.
 
"I will say this, our return-to-play policies include echocardiograms, cardio MRIs and all of those hot button issues that are being talked about right now," he said. "We are going through every procedure our medical team advises. There has been a long process to get back on the field."
 
Brown mentioned another aspect of the current discussion that is not really part of the current discussion – what happens to the players if the season is canceled?
 
"We're not talking what the collateral damage is for young people when something they love is taken away from them and that structure and discipline is taken away from them?" he explained. "If you take them out of athletics, the structure and the things they love, what happens? I've seen it with our team when they were not here.
 
"I think when decision makers are making the decision (not to play) they have to think about the collateral damage as well."
 
Brown said he was moved by the #WeWanttoPlay movement started by college football players on social media Sunday night, many of those his own.
 
Many others were moved as well.
 
"Our team wants to play," he said. "Our coaches want to coach, and I think it's important to be out there. Obviously, a lot of our guys were a part of that movement last night and how incredible that was. I stayed up way later than I usually do - or wanted to - just because I was moved, not only by the actions of our players, but players across college football in using their voice and using it in a manner that clearly says that they want to play."
 
He continued, "I will be clear – they don't have to play. They have the opportunity to opt out and remain on scholarship. They do have a choice of whether they do play or don't. We believe in the protocols we have in place to keep our players and our staff as safe as possible."
 
Will the players ultimately be safer in the care of trained strength and conditioning, athletic training and medical professionals as opposed to working out someplace on their own?
 


Brown said that question is difficult to answer precisely.
 
"Everything is relative. I can't answer that question for everybody in our program right now," he said. "I will say this, for a good majority of them, if we are not playing football are they getting tested once or twice a week? I'm going to say probably not.
 
"If they are not playing football, are they going through the same safety protocols? They want to continue to work out. Are they safer doing that here than going to their local high school or local gym? Absolutely, because of what we are doing from a cleaning standpoint. We are outdoors. We have professionals and experts in their fields here. I can answer those questions, but I don't know what all 100 of them are going to do. I can speculate."
 
As for postponing football until the spring, Brown said that's probably doable, but he believes there are many questions that would need to be answered.
 
"I'm not in that group that says you can play games in the spring and can't turn around and play in the fall, but if I'm a player I'm looking at it and the current rules give you four years of eligibility," he said. "If I'm them I want to maximize those four years, and that's where we are going to run into some issues in the spring. We have to address major eligibility concerns.
 
"How many games can you play in the spring? Can you play eight? Can you play 10? I've seen a bunch of different models," he added.
 
We've all seen a bunch of different things out there lately.
 
Chances are we are going to see a lot more things in the coming days. Hopefully, some of these will also come with workable solutions.