Tennessee hits pause on spring football activities due to COVID cluster

Days before the official start of spring practice, the University of Tennessee football program has been shut down because of COVID-19 concerns.

Athletic department officials announced Wednesday a cluster of 11 cases among players and support staff has been confirmed while a total of 13 people were labeled as close contacts. All those affected are now in isolation.

The report said the cases were the result of an off-campus gathering and team activities at the Anderson Training Center.

There’s been no word on if the pause in the program will impact spring drills under first-year head coach Josh Heupel that were scheduled to begin on Tuesday, March 23 or the annual Orange-White Game that makes a return from a pandemic-induced hiatus on April 24.

(IMAGE: UT Football / Twitter / UT Athletics)