Dr. Nate Barger knew the one-word answer before the question was asked. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga assistant athletics director for sports medicine had already been keeping up with recent news about a sudden spike in cases concerning a certain virus.
He also knows that for all the vaccines and boosters and social distancing and masks, we still haven't gotten rid of the most wide-ranging medical problem of the past 70 years, and that it could still disrupt a third straight college football season if we're not careful.
"COVID-19," Barger said even before the question had been completed. "The BA.5 sub-variant. We've seen it. We've heard about it. We're watching for it. But we haven't had a COVID case in months with our athletes. Most are vaccinated and they've done a really good job of doing what we've asked of them."
He then added, "And the cases we have had haven't come from athletic competition. They've come when our athletes have just been hanging out, socializing with each other. I think we're just going to have to learn to live it. It's not going away. You have to be aware of it and be smart."
With the Mocs' first day of fall practice scheduled for August 4th, Barger isn't the only member of the athletic department paying attention to another strain of COVID. Head football coach Rusty Wright has been monitoring it also.
"It's been a little more concerning the last two weeks," said Wright on Friday, mindful that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention labeled nine counties in the Chattanooga region as "high-risk" for infection within the past week.
"But we've educated them. Most of our guys are vaccinated. I feel like we're doing the right things, so I'm not fighting that battle anymore. I've fought it for the last year and a half and I'm done with it."
It would be nice to say we're all done with it. Instead, on the cusp of another academic year, it feels like we're all living a line Al Pacino uttered in Godfather III, as he describes attempting to walk away from the Mafia: "Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in."
And every time we think we've beaten COVID-19, another variant (or sub-variant) arrives to torment us again.
So what seemed impossible three months ago must now be considered: The virus could again derail what passes for a new normal of more boosters, more routine mask wearing, greater social distancing.
But as all of us attempt to return our lives to as pre-pandemic a normal as possible, both Wright and Barger expect to see a UTC football season to please Mocs Nation more than it has at any time over the last five years, even accounting for the nationwide upheaval caused by the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness.
"Before I came here, I was at ETSU when they were starting their program back," said Barger. "They didn't have many physically imposing guys. This year's (UTC) team has been working out in the parking garage (due to construction on the Bucky Wolford Center). Right now, we've got a bunch of 18-year-olds who look like 24-year-olds. I think we're really in a great spot in terms of conditioning."
That doesn't mean the Mocs are in peak condition right now, Barger said. Nor does he want them to be. You'd rather have them peaking in October, just in time for a big stretch run.
However, Wright also likes what he's seem from the 65 to 70 players who've remained on campus all summer to get ahead in both school and conditioning.
"This is (strength coach) Gerry Pacitti's second year and it's showing," said Wright. "You can tell he's had a full cycle with them. This is such a better group (than a year ago). They do things the right way."
If anything may explain why a senior-dominated team often looked like Tarzan and played like Jane, that statement might be it. Being older is not always being better and last year's Mocs always seemed to lack something when it mattered most.
But last year is long gone, replaced by a Mocs squad that is no doubt hungry to reverse last season's lost opportunities to reach the FCS playoffs and make a strong run once there.
Wright says he'll play golf for perhaps the final time this weekend until the season ends.
"And even then I'm already struggling to focus on anything but football," he said.
As for Barger, COVID willing, he's bracing for the start of three straight 90-hour workweeks between August 4 and August 25.
"We start at 5:45 each morning and usually don't head home until close to 10:30 at night," he said.
And that comes with overtime pay right, Doc?
"Right," he laughed. "We get paid in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."
Hopefully Barger and his staff can find an NIL deal in there somewhere.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.