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Harbaugh Ready To Play Without Fans: 'Heck Yeah I'd Be Comfortable'

jim-harbaugh coronavirus ncaa

Will Burchfield
By Will BurchfieldMay 20, 2020
Will Burchfield
Sportswriter for 97.1 The Ticket, covering the Detroit Tigers, Lions, Red Wings, Pistons; football and hoops at MSU and U-M; Boston college grad.
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Like most coaches and players, including those in the NFL, Jim Harbaugh is more than willing to play football without fans. Whatever it takes to get this season off the ground. 

"Heck yeah I'd be comfortable coaching a game without any fans," Harbaugh said Wednesday morning on ESPN's Get Up. "If the choice were, play in front of no fans or not play (at all), then I would choose to play in front of no fans. And darn near every guy I've talked to on our team, that's the way they feel about it."

With the coronavirus casting doubt over the 2020 season, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer has already said the state won't be opening its stadiums to fans this fall. But Harbaugh believes there's a way to safely play games. 

"You could definitely test both teams, you could test the officials and everybody," he said. "Can you test 100,000 fans coming into a stadium? Probably not. Without a vaccine, you probably couldn't do that." 

An NFL Without Fans? Stafford Wouldn't Mind It: 'Quiet's Great'

To Harbaugh, the question is this: "Can you have a game where both sides are tested, coaches, officials, trainers, everybody involved…and if you don't test positive, can you still play the game? I think that's the question that's on everybody's mind, and thinking that you could do that. You could do that."

For now, Harbaugh continues to prepare as if the season will start on time. Michigan is scheduled to kick things off Sept. 5 at Washington, a game that the athletic directors from both schools are doing their best to make happen. 
 
"Hopefully we'll get some better news as the summer goes on here," said Harbaugh. "As far as the season, everyone's preparing like there's going to be one. Not even thinking in the way that there wouldn't."

jim-harbaugh coronavirus ncaa

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