Sean McDonnell, back after battling cancer, is prepping his UNH football team for a different type of season that begins in March thanks to the pandemic. (UNH Athletics courtesy photo)

Sean McDonnell is making his triumphant return to his University of New Hampshire football team after battling cancer last year.

But in all the 21 years he’s been at the UNH helm, he certainly never had his Wildcats’ first walk through or practice moved indoors thanks to snow.

Yet that was the case Wednesday as he prepares his team, under the protocols of a pandemic, for a March – not late August or early September – season opener.

“A beautiful day,” McDonnell said as part of a CAA coaches preseason Zoom press conference. “When the kids got back on campus, I told them it was August 4, and they were all laughing about it. … We’d been away from it for six or seven, whatever, eight months now, we have the opportunity to come back, play in March and April, I think everybody’s looking forward to it and excited to see what’s going to happen.”

But of course, weather will be a factor. “It’s something we’re going to have to navigate every day,” McDonnell said. “We’re talking Maine, New Hampshire and Albany. It’s a lot different from Elon, Richmond and JM (James Madison). They’re worried about rain, and stuff like that, we’re going to be worried about snow and ice.”

McDonnell noted that UNH has an indoor facility around the track (Paul Sweet Oval), but that other sports also need the time to use it.

“We talked about practicing at night, we talked about practicing early in the morning,” he said. “We’re going to have to anticipate and make decisions based on what we see coming, rather than on what’s really happening.”

Meaning, he said, if the ‘Cats braintrust think a storm is on the horizon, they’ll have to change pracitce time, or practice style, “and maybe not go with pads. … We’re going to have to change our temperment as coaches, especially in New Hampshire, how we go about a Wednesday practice if we get hit with bad weather.”

And he figures with three home games (March 5, March 20 vs. Delaware, Apr. 10 vs. Stony Brook), one of them is likely going to be played in bad conditions. “You’ve got to be prepared for it,” he said.

McDonnell says following the lead of how the NFL teams handle Thursday night football, with walk throughs, etc., is a good prototype to follow.

McDonnell said that UNH has done a great job with its protocols, as witnessed by the fact the Wildcat men’s hockey and basketball teams have had stoppages in play but are back on the ice and the court in games “by setting up the process, everything the right way. We’re going to hit something, something’s going to come along, we have to be very resilient in how we do things.

“I’m looking forward to those kind of challenges. I hope we don’t have any of them, but at the same time I think our university and the state of New Hampshire has kept it going. The other thing I think. … there’s a huge difference playing outside on a football field.”

Many players in the CAA transferred out due to COVID, but the Wildcats still have top-notch senior safety Evan Horn.

“He’s the best player on our team, and the leader of the defense,” McDonnell said. “A whole new day and age, when a kid is so strong to your fabric … whoever it was got him to come back to UNH and get an opportunity to play one more season with us.”

Locals on the UNH roster include senior wide receiver Nick Lorden of Milford, a Bishop Guertin alum; sophomore safety Joe Eichman of Merrimack and freshman corner Gavin Urda of Milford.

McDonnell said there will be no problem getting his players up for games, particularly the Friday night, March 5 opener vs. UAlbany and the final game vs. Maine on the road on April 17.

“We’ve got the Albany game circled because that’s the first one,” he said, “and the Maine game circled, because that’s the last one. … We love playing against Maine, and Maine loves playing against us.”

McDonnell said sitting out a year wasn’t easy, as Ricky Santos served as interim coach.

“It was hard,” McDonnell said of being out the entire 2019 season, during which the Wildcats went 6-5. “But it was a pretty exceptional thing watching the people do what they had to do with or without me.”

Just like it will be a pretty exceptional thing seeing him back on the sidelines, coaching a game – in March.