Communication is key for Karl Dorrell as he navigates an uncertain timeline

The Buffs were supposed to go back to school on Monday but instead of returning to campus from spring break, most of the team will stay at home.

The University of Colorado’s classes have been moved offline in an effort to keep students and staff free from COVID-19. Football has also been put on hold and there’s no timeline for a return.

“Really anything and everything is possible right now,” head coach Karl Dorrell said. “Right now we have these stay-at-home orders about when you can go out and go back on campus and things like that. We just issued some information to all of our student athletes yesterday about the date being April 10 as to when they would reconsider and evaluate where we are as Boulder County.”

When spring practices were officially suspended earlier this month, Monday was chosen as the day the team would plan on meeting again. Obviously, things didn’t take the turn for the best that the Buffs’ staff had hoped.

“Dates and deadlines are out there but as you know the situation is pretty fluid,” Dorrell said. “They can change or be extended.”

As of now, there’s still no clarity as to when the Buffs will be allowed to play football again.

“There’s a lot of scenarios, and really none of them are etched in stone, but we’ve got to be ready for it any moment,” Dorrell said.

Everything is on the table, from no spring ball to no college football this fall.

“It’s hard to fathom (canceling the 2020 season) at this point being that we’re still in March, but we’re hopeful,” Dorrell said. “I know it’s gonna take some time for this pandemic to calm down and be under control, I get that, but we’re hoping that it’s not going to affect the season, but there is that possibility.”

These aren’t the circumstances that Dorrell ecpected when he signed up for the job, but he’s learning how to make the best of the situation.

“I think the biggest thing we’ve been doing with our guys is staying in communication and keeping them in the loop of what we’re doing on campus, what the coaches are doing in their preparation for if there’s going to be any type of spring ball at some point in time, or if not, you know, preparing ourselves for the summer in terms of how we’re going to get our work done and get ready for the season,” Dorrell said.

Dorrell held one-on-one meetings with all of his players in February, in an effort to begin to build relationships. Then he turned his sights on the incoming class of freshman. Now, Dorrell is checking in on his players under tense circumstances and the relationships are evolving quickly.

“Obviously, everybody’s dealing with the same issues right now so there’s common ground from that standpoint,” Dorrell said. “We talked about how they’re working out, what they are doing to keep themselves safe and healthy, so there’s that constant communication that’s going on between me and the staff and those incoming players. They’re part of our family, even though they’re not technically on campus yet, so we still try to engage with them.”