Clemson Football: ACC medical expert believes football can be played safely

ACC medical advisory group thinks we can see Clemson football play safely this fall

While Clemson football fans wait to see if we will indeed see the sport played this fall, the chair of the ACC’s medical advisory group thinks it can happen.

Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a Duke infectious disease specialist, is the chair of the ACC’s medical advisory group. He spoke with Sports Business Daily earlier this week to discuss the viability of playing this fall.

"“We believe we can mitigate it down to a level that makes everyone safe,” Wolfe said. “Can we safely have two teams meet on the field? I would say yes. Will it be tough? Yes. Will it be expensive and hard and lots of work? For sure. But I do believe you can sufficiently mitigate the risk of bringing COVID onto the football field or into the training room at a level that’s no different than living as a student on campus.”"

Wolfe’s comments come on the heels of the ACC reportedly moving forward with the plan to play their fall sports this fall, despite reports that both the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences are on the brink of postponement and, potentially, cancellation.

There have also been some other good news reports coming from specific programs in the ACC. Dabo Swinney told the media that Clemson football has had just one positive test since early July at his press conference yesterday. UNC Coach Mack Brown said that Tar Heels have not had a positive test in over a month now. Bronco Mendenhall and Scott Satterfield both talked about the success of their programs to mitigate the virus, as well.

The Clemson football team is preparing for the season to start soon

All of this can change on a dime, and it very well might, but the overarching theme here is that the 2020 Clemson football season is slated to begin at the scheduled time against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday, Sept. 12.

As we just said, this can all change.

But the plan hearing from these coaches, athletic directors and even university presidents at this point is that the plan is to play.

It will be interesting to see how the month unfolds, but there is certainly some positive news as we progress closer to the scheduled start of the season.