Louisville workouts adjust to new policies during COVID-19

Strength and Conditioning coach Mike Sirignano says Louisville players have been successful in workouts

With guidelines, limitations and restrictions put in place by the NCAA and the University of Louisville as preventive measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, Louisville football has adopted new procedures to prepare for the 2020 season.

Head Strength and Conditioning coach Mike Sirignano has led workouts as players return to campus this summer.

Sirignano says the reasoning behind the workouts hasn’t changed, but how players workout has been adjusted based on the new policies.

“Those are the things that have been manipulated,” Sirignano said. “Not so much what we do or why we do it, but how we do it. Those are three staples in our program, what, why and how.”

Players typically have unlimited access to the Howard Schnellenberger Football Complex. With restrictions due to COVID-19, players are limited to four hours a day in the facility.

In a phased return that has brought in players in three separate groups in early June, mid-June and early-July, Sirignano said the training staff looks at the three groups of phased returners as three separate families.

The players are separated into small groups for voluntary athletic workouts.

“As a staff we are there from anywhere of 12 to 14 hours a day chaperoning those guys at the facility,” Sirignano said. “They can’t go anywhere without us.”

With limited access to the Schnellenberger Complex and guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, team meals aren’t allowed. Sirignano said players are being fed in differently this year, forcing the nutrition staff to find ways to make sure players get enough calories.

“The one area we aren’t doing as good as we did last year is our nutrition,” Sirignano said. “We cater three meals a day for these guys usually, we aren’t able to do that right now because of the pandemic.”

Sirignano says Louisville has been successful while following the guidelines.

Though procedures have changed, preparation hasn’t.

“We still need to get a little bit stronger,” Sirignano said. “We still need to get in better shape.”