Donaldson, staff keep up with their players, potential recruits

Heidelberg coach Scott Donaldson — like most football coaches — has faced questions from players and potentials player about the corona virus and the chances of a season next year. Donaldson is up front. "Just be honest with them, because I don't know either. I know exactly as much as these kids do," Donaldson said Monday. "When you talk to kids, just be honest, and if something new is happening, let them know. The same with recruits. I think our players are a little more wise to the fact that, listen, if the NCAA lets us play, we're gonna play." The coronavirus has changed so much in daily life, and it's no different for college football coaches. Before the pandemic, Donaldson said he was in Florida, working on recruiting. "I actually spent a week down in Miami, trying to get kids interested," he said. "Well, obviously, (now) these kids can't visit, so what are you going to do? What we've been doing is a lot of video visits, I guess, virtual visits, where the kids will get, 20 minutes, half hour with me with a 1-on-1, just kind of a video conference, with their position coach, with a coordinator, and then as many videos as we possibly can." Donaldson said the pandemic struck at an interesting time for his staff. "Especially April, May, you're finishing up a (recruiting) class," he said. "Where, you're still recruiting for the 2020 class, especially out-of-state kids, but you've also gotta get started on your 2021s. Your juniors that want to get up to visit. The recruit calendar has really moved up these days." And while that is going on, the coaches also have responsibilities with players on the current roster. "We do a lot with our kids academically, as far as making sure they're reaching their potential, and when you get the kids off campus, you take away a lot of safety nets," Donaldson said. "You take away, for a lot of kids, someone to lean on and help them out when they need help. We make sure we're still contacting our guys once a week, just talk to them on the phone, make sure they're all right. Getting them the help they need." Donaldson praised how Heidelberg has transitioned to distance learning, which has been a big help. "That's one thing I think Heidelberg does a really great, great job of, is the tutoring center. It's called the Owen Center… (it) did a phenomenal job of not only transitioning to distance learning, but making sure there were still resources available for the kids struggling." As for football itself, Donaldson said meetings have continued. "We still had bi-weekly, twice a week meetings, Zoom, group chats, still trying to do some football stuff, just installing and talking about defense, offense, whatever it might be. And a lot of it … it's not that the kids are gonna retain it come September, but a lot of it is just to give them a semblance of normalcy." Donaldson is working on maintaining that same normalcy with his coaching staff. "That's the nice thing about the video conference. We can see each other. We have a staff group chat, whatever you want to call it, where we can get things handled," he said. "But personally, for me, I need to see these guys every day. Not to make sure they're working, just to have a sense of normalcy, I guess. I trust that they're working, but it's just so much more comforting."