Five takeaways from a virtual call with Eric Burrell and Cole Van Lanen

Wisconsin seniors Cole Van Lanen and Eric Burrell spoke with media members for roughly 30 minutes Friday morning to discuss their thoughts on not playing this fall.

Here are five takeaways from that virtual conversation.

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Three days after the Big Ten formally canceled fall sports, seniors Cole Van Lanen and Eric Burrell held nothing back.

“Honestly, it’s very tough,” Burrell said. “Never in a million years would you have thought that it would come to this.”

The biggest frustration each voiced was a lack of communication. Wisconsin started its fall practices this Monday, just when rumors began to ramp up, and even practiced Tuesday before the official announcement.

Van Lanen described the 48 hours as a “rollercoaster.”

“We got a schedule then we’re coming in on Monday for our first practice, and then you come back and you look at your phone and it’s blowing up with ‘the season’s cancelled,'" Van Lanen said. "Those emotions set in and then a few hours later you’re seeing, ‘oh, it’s not cancelled,’ and you’re seeing the uproar of student athletes and coaches and you’re thinking, 'OK, this might still happen.'

"We come in on Tuesday. We have a practice and I feel like this team has the best practice I’ve seen here in five years. I really feel like this team is one of the best I’ve seen and then we come back and at noon I’m seeing the announcement on TV that it’s canceled."

Van Lanen, the Badgers' starting left tackle, let out all his frustration when speaking with reporters.

“The chancellors told us that now we can go to class and still do 20 hours a week. As a player that makes absolutely zero sense," he said. "The heart condition… well that was with corona and now I feel like we’re more susceptible to get corona and we’re still going to get this heart condition. So to me it makes zero sense why she had to cancel the season so early.

“Who I’d talk to is really the presidents and the commissioner because as a player, I really just want to know. I’ve never seen our president ever, so for her to make a decision on our behalf who has no idea what’s going on. To not have our AD, our coach, us have any say on our season when we are the ones putting in the time and we’re the ones that are giving up everything to make sure this happens.

"The only place I’d go to is a grocery store for 15 minutes with a mask on. We haven’t had a positive in weeks, if not months. The risk really wasn’t there. We just don’t know why it had to get canceled. At least I’d understand like the SEC postponed it to give them time, but they’re cancelling before it even started. Didn’t even give it a chance. It’s really frustrating for all of us players, coaches, all of us.”

Burrell, who was expected to start at safety in 2020, echoed some of the frustration and made it clear it would be safer to play football with the protection the university offers.

“It was very frustrating,” he said. “I think at the University of Wisconsin, we followed the protocols and did the right things. We were doing what we're supposed and we haven’t had any positives in weeks.

“It just sucks to find out on Twitter."

With fall football of the table, the conversation has swung towards what a spring season may look like, if possible. Both Burrell and Van Lanen seem to be on board with what early discussions involve.

Van Lanen, a redshirt senior, mentioned that early talks have involved a season to be played from early January to March. With spring ball being around the same time their bodies “kind of get worked up anyway.”

“I kind of like the concept they’re thinking of right now. I know other guys do, too. We’re pretty pumped about it,” Van Lanen said.

In terms of actually playing if there were to be a spring season, both players seemed up for the task.

For Burrell, who already has his undergraduate degree and will be earning his Masters in December, he’s “not in favor of coming back for the fall but would definitely consider the spring if they can come up with a situation.”

Van Lanen who played through an injury in 2019, would like to get some more games in so scouts have more tape to go off.

“Do I still think I could get drafted? I think so but adding tape could get me drafted in an earlier round. A spring season would really help me,” he said.

Burrell and Van Lanen are two of the most important Badgers on the current roster, and both will have a lot to think about moving forward.

For Van Lanen, one of the top returning offensive tackles in the country, he’s considering training for the NFL now, a spring season, or even coming back next fall for another year.

“I put on some really good 2018 tape and last year I was playing through an injury and stuff, so I could barely lift," Van Lanen said. "I just wasn’t the same player as I normally am. I was really hoping to have this season to show a healthy me and what me in the best shape can do."

Much of Burrell's decision will come down to what the Big Ten ultimately decides to do with football. He “would absolutely give it one more run” if there was football in the spring but would need “convincing” to come back in the fall.

Wisconsin may have missed out on what could have been a special season

After months of meetings through Zoom, players and coaches were finally able to hit the practice field earlier this week. And listening to Van Lanen and Burrell, the players didn’t miss a step.

Van Lanen said Tuesday’s practice was the “best practice I’ve seen in five years,” and called the team “one of the best he’s seen."

“I think this team is the smartest it’s ever been," Van Lanen said. "We came in with like 80 percent of the offense in and I would swear we had zero mental errors. We were all firing off the ball. It just looked so clean. It flowed so well, I’d never seen that before."

Burrell reiterated the same sentiment.

“I think with the camaraderie and the chemistry that we were working, I think we were going to have a great season,” he said. “I think since I’ve been here we’re in the best shape.”

With the Big Ten and Pac-12 being the only conferences to postpone its fall seasons (for now), there has been a ton of speculation surrounding potential transfers to other Power 5 programs. There isn’t much clarity about how it might work, but for Wisconsin, players seem to be happy with the program.

Burrell made it clear that he would be staying in Madison.

“Not going to lie, I did some thinking and some research," Burrell said. "Then I’m realizing, well I love this place, I think I’ve accomplished a lot of things at this place. So I’m not in a great position, I’m not in a bad position.

"It’s a lot of work, for one. Two, you have to figure out what’s the best fit because you literally have a year. And another thing is, if you get there, and it turns out you don’t like it and the season gets shut down then you’re stuck there for a whole year.”

Van Lanen made it clear he would be staying at UW and also mentioned that he hasn’t heard any chatter from teammates about transferring.

“For me a big thing was getting more film out, so I guess that is a viable option for me," he said. "But I just can’t even fathom doing that and I don’t think any of us, especially the seniors, could even think of doing that.”