One by one, eleven of the Pac-12’s football coaches strode maskless to the podium at the conference’s media day on Tuesday, each fully vaccinated against the virus that upended last football season. They extolled the virtues of the COVID-19 vaccine as the pandemic threatens to alter another season.
While the 11 spoke at length about player safety and personal responsibility from a stage in Hollywood, one of their peers remained noticeably absent.
A thousand miles away, in Pullman, Wash., the Pac-12’s lone unvaccinated head coach sat alone in front of a camera, hoping to avoid the subject entirely.