With all the questions swirling around the football season amid the coronavirus pandemic, Katy head football coach Gary Joseph has been telling his players to control what they can control to not only start the delayed schedule on time but also to finish it.

“There are things that are not in your control and that's the hard thing,” Joseph said in an Aug. 13 phone interview. “The things we can control are the protocols and making sure that they give everybody the opportunity to play football.”

After the University Interscholastic League announced July 21 that Classes 6A and 5A would start official fall sports practices a month later than Classes 4A and below, the bigger schools have been able to dig into strength and conditioning and sport-specific instruction and Joseph said the players have been taking advantage of the workouts.

“We're making sure they're working to make up for a little time lost during their spring training,” Joseph said. “It's a process, day by day but I’m proud of the kids that have showed up. I tell them all the time I'm not worried about the ones that aren’t here, I'm going to coach the ones that are here.”

One player that now finds himself out of the Tigers’ workouts is Brandon Campbell, who transferred to Katy High School March 26 but announced Aug. 12 that he was opting out of his senior high school season to enroll early at the University of Southern California and join football practices there.

Campbell grew up in Katy ISD, eventually starting his varsity career with the Taylor Mustangs as a sophomore before suiting up for the Pearland Oilers as a junior.

“I did consider it a loss because he's a good kid but he hasn't done anything at Katy High School so it's just about pushing forward with our kids,” Joseph said.

The next steps include following the protocols during workouts so that a season can be played for all of those in their final years.

“I hope our kids are given the opportunity, especially those in the senior stage because kids growing up want to be a part of the program so you just hope they'll have an opportunity to (play instead of) walking by the fieldhouse every day thinking, ‘I never got the chance to play my senior year.’ That's hard,” Joseph said.

The Tigers’ regular season will kick off Sept. 25 at Clear Springs and their home opener will be Oct. 9 against the Seven Lakes Spartans.