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New York Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
College football coaches discussing plan to add NFL-style OTAs to spring practice calendar
A new proposal circulating among coaches aims to expand spring practice into NFL-style organized team activities (OTAs), in response to the increase in spring transfers and roster turnover, along with the possibility that college football moves to a single transfer portal window. The OTA idea, which was formed by the American Football Coaches Association board of trustees last month, is now being socialized at conference spring meetings. It would add six non-padded workouts to the existing 15 spring practices, but those 21 allotted days could be split across two different five-week windows for a total of seven weeks. There must be at least three weeks between the two sessions, which could span from anywhere between January and June. Advertisement 'If you're a Clemson who doesn't lose anybody, you can have a traditional spring and get six extra opportunities in the summer,' said Liberty head coach and AFCA board member Jamey Chadwell. 'Or if you're like us that loses a lot every year and you don't have the majority of your team until May, then you can practice more in May or June.' Remaking the spring calendar has been a frequent point of discussion by the sport's leaders. In January, the AFCA proposed moving from two transfer portal windows in December and April to a single 10-day window in January. The AFCA is not a governing body, but executive director Craig Bohl is a non-voting member of the FBS football oversight committee, which is looking into making the ideas into official proposals. The oversight committee's work has been at a standstill for months, waiting for full approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, which would establish a system of revenue sharing with athletes up to a cap of around $20.5 million. An oversight committee subgroup has been working behind the scenes on the single-window vision for the transfer portal, which could take place as early as January or later in March or April. Coaches and conferences have mixed opinions on the best timing. Some want to have their rosters in place heading into spring. Others don't want to force players who are disgruntled after spring ball to stick around. A decision on a single portal window is likely to come before any OTA decision. But the flexibility of the OTAs' scheduling would help avoid the issue, which is why the AFCA is putting it out before any portal decision is finalized. 'It's been met with positive appetite from the initial rollouts,' said Bohl, the former head coach at Wyoming and North Dakota State. College football programs were basically forced into a OTA calendar during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Spring football was pushed back, and COVID restrictions moved schedules around and put more activities outside. Some programs in the ensuing years adjusted their format to match it. This idea could expand the concept. Advertisement 'It certainly helped me,' Bohl said of the 2020 experience. 'What became apparent was you had to look at preparing a team differently because of the restraints. We saw great value in taking guys out on the field for a learning experience. Our world's changing, the schedule's have changed. Coaches wanted to have a plan to adapt, and we think this addresses it.'
NBC Sports
27-03-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Deion Sanders' push for NFL-style intersquad scrimmages at college level gains momentum with coaches
With Football Bowl Subdivision programs planning for a 105-man roster limit this fall, American Football Coaches Association executive director Craig Bohl said he sees the day coming when the NCAA allows NFL-style intersquad practices and scrimmages. 'If a couple programs choose to explore this, I think it's going to be something that could have some real legs to it,' Bohl told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Colorado coach Deion Sanders recently suggested a school be allowed to host a team from another school for a few days of joint practices before they play an exhibition game, possibly as a replacement for the traditional intrasquad spring game. Syracuse coach Fran Brown, in response to Sanders, said in a social media post he would be willing to take his team to Colorado for a three-day visit. Asked if Colorado had requested a waiver that would allow for it, CU athletics spokesman Steve Hulbert texted to the AP, 'We are working with the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference. There are currently no updates.' Bohl said 'there is quite a bit of appetite' among coaches to hold intersquad practices and scrimmages, even still this spring. The impetus is the 105-man roster limit, which likely will become official next month with the expected final approval of the House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit settlement. The average FBS roster was 128 players last year, and coaches are looking for ways to mitigate wear and tear on their reduced number of players, Bohl said. Intersquad practices between teams that are from different conferences and won't play each other during the season would help accomplish that. The issue especially resonates with teams contending for the season-extending College Football Playoff. One concern, Bohl said, is that participation in intersquad practices would put players on display for personnel directors for the other team, which, in turn, could lead to tampering. 'Do I really want to expose my guys?' Bohl said a coach asked him. 'They're going to have their general manager out there taking notes on what kind of ability a certain player has. How you get that worked out, I don't know.' Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said he canceled the Cornhuskers' traditional televised spring game, in part, because of the risk of other teams scouting his players and possibly attempting to poach them through the transfer portal. Rhule, who participated in intersquad practices when he was coach of the Carolina Panthers, said he would be in favor of the Huskers practicing a few days with another team. He said he had doubts a rule change is in the offing. 'If anybody can do it, coach Sanders can,' he said, adding Syracuse's Brown also can be convincing. 'If that happened, I would certainly look into all that has to offer.' Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said he'd be open to bringing Bedlam back with Oklahoma in the spring if the rules changed. He envisioned two practices against the Sooners in a year or one per year in a home-and-home scenario in place of a spring game, with the two programs splitting the ticket gate for name, image and likeness money. 'We're moving toward the NFL, why not do that?' Gundy said. 'So I think it'd be a great idea.' It certainly could draw attention -- Oklahoma left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference last year, bringing a series that lasted more than a century to a halt. Gundy laid out how it could work if it were possible this year. He said the Cowboys could practice at Oklahoma on April 12 -- the same date that Oklahoma has scheduled an event to replace its traditional spring game. He said Oklahoma could visit Oklahoma State the next week in place of the Cowboys' spring game.
Associated Press
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Deion Sanders' push for NFL-style intersquad scrimmages at college level gains momentum with coaches
With Football Bowl Subdivision programs planning for a 105-man roster limit this fall, American Football Coaches Association executive director Craig Bohl said he sees the day coming when the NCAA allows NFL-style intersquad practices and scrimmages. 'If a couple programs choose to explore this, I think it's going to be something that could have some real legs to it,' Bohl told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Colorado coach Deion Sanders recently suggested a school be allowed to host a team from another school for a few days of joint practices before they play an exhibition game, possibly as a replacement for the traditional intrasquad spring game. Syracuse coach Fran Brown, in response to Sanders, said in a social media post he would be willing to take his team to Colorado for a three-day visit. Asked if Colorado had requested a waiver that would allow for it, CU athletics spokesman Steve Hulbert texted to the AP, 'We are working with the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference. There are currently no updates.' Bohl said 'there is quite a bit of appetite' among coaches to hold intersquad practices and scrimmages, even still this spring. The impetus is the 105-man roster limit, which likely will become official next month with the expected final approval of the House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit settlement. The average FBS roster was 128 players last year, and coaches are looking for ways to mitigate wear and tear on their reduced number of players, Bohl said. Intersquad practices between teams that are from different conferences and won't play each other during the season would help accomplish that. The issue especially resonates with teams contending for the season-extending College Football Playoff. One concern, Bohl said, is that participation in intersquad practices would put players on display for personnel directors for the other team, which, in turn, could lead to tampering. 'Do I really want to expose my guys?' Bohl said a coach asked him. 'They're going to have their general manager out there taking notes on what kind of ability a certain player has. How you get that worked out, I don't know.' Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said he canceled the Cornhuskers' traditional televised spring game, in part, because of the risk of other teams scouting his players and possibly attempting to poach them through the transfer portal. Rhule, who participated in intersquad practices when he was coach of the Carolina Panthers, said he would be in favor of the Huskers practicing a few days with another team. He said he had doubts a rule change is in the offing. 'If anybody can do it, coach Sanders can,' he said, adding Syracuse's Brown also can be convincing. 'If that happened, I would certainly look into all that has to offer.' ___
New York Times
28-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NCAA committee proposes charging timeout if player goes down with injury after ball spotted
The NCAA football rules committee's latest idea to stop the trend of faking injuries will be to charge a timeout in certain situations. As part of the 2025 rules proposals revealed Friday, a team would be charged an injury timeout if a player goes down due to injury after the ball is spotted for the next play. If a team is out of timeouts, it will be a five-yard penalty for delay of game. All proposals from the football rules committee must be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on April 16. Advertisement It's a less dramatic proposal than the one from the American Football Coaches Association, which asked that any player who goes down for injury be required to sit out the rest of the drive, but the hope is the idea revealed Friday will curtail most incidents. Faking injury has been used as a tactic to slow down an offense's momentum and tempo. The committee said the period after the ball is spotted is when the most egregious violations have occurred. 'We looked at a lot of video on these and saw many are occurring not at the end of the play, but after the play,' NCAA coordinator of officials Steve Shaw said. 'So we think this will hit and take the incentive for a player to feign an injury after a play is over. We'll monitor and see how it goes.' The topic of faking injuries has been discussed by the committee as high-profile situations have come up in recent years, even leading game broadcast announcers to question the legitimacy of supposed injuries during games. Schools have been allowed to request postgame video reviews of teams. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sent a scathing memo to his schools in the fall over the topic, telling them to just play football. Another reason the committee opted against the coaches' proposal to sit a player for a drive is that they didn't want a player who is actually injured to try to play through that injury. Several other proposals revealed Friday are direct results of incidents in games this past season. If a defense goes through a play in the final two minutes with 12 players, it will be a five-yard penalty, and the offense will have the option to reset the game clock. This is a result of Oregon using 12 players on the second-to-last play against Ohio State in October, where four seconds ran off. If the 12th player is attempting to leave the field, it will just be a five-yard penalty. This would codify the interpretation added after the game last fall. Advertisement Another proposal would give teams just one timeout for the third overtime and beyond. This comes after the Georgia-Georgia Tech game went eight overtimes and saw three timeouts called in the final five two-play overtime periods. Two bowl games also went at least five overtimes. Kick return teams using the 'T' arm signal would also result in a dead ball call, per another proposal. This came up in the Citrus Bowl when South Carolina ran a kick return trick play against Illinois after doing the T signal, which informally signals letting the kickoff go through the end zone. When Illinois coach Bret Bielema checked on an injured Illini player a few plays later, he gave a T signal to South Carolina's bench, causing Bielema and Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer to yell at each other. Among the other proposals, officials would announce that replays were 'upheld' or 'overturned,' removing the calls of 'confirmed' and 'stands.' Helmet communication used in the Football Bowl Subdivision last year would be allowed at the Football Championship Subdivision level. There were no new proposals around targeting, coach challenges or substitutions, but all will get more attention. On targeting, the penalty and stoppage often draw the ire of fans for perceived inconsistency in the calls, but Shaw said there were 0.14 targeting penalties enforced per game this season, the lowest since the rule went into place. Big Ten vice president of football operations and rules committee co-chair A.J. Edds said the rules committee has a targeting recommendation that will go to the conference commissioners for feedback, rather than the NCAA membership of schools, and the committee could react depending on how that goes. He didn't reveal what that recommendation is, but Shaw emphasized there is no backing away from the definition of targeting. Advertisement The idea of moving to a coach challenge replay format like the NFL was discussed again but still doesn't have enough support. Edds said the committee will monitor and collect replay information to help illustrate and answer why a coach challenge model could be beneficial, and it'll be discussed again next year. Coaches have generally been against such a move. Substitutions grabbed the attention of fans this past season as defenses would sometimes sub slowly if given the opportunity following an offensive sub. The rule allows the defense to sub if the offense does. Shaw said officials will need to make sure it's handled correctly and not allow defensive subs to be too slow on purpose, but no formal rule change was needed. 'If done properly, we're very comfortable in our game and when the offense substitutes, the defense can match up,' Shaw said. 'If the offense substitutes late, they put themselves at risk for a delay of game, but if the defense doesn't act in an expeditious manner and players begin to lollygag, we're going to release the center judge and they put themselves in a situation where they could have 12 on the field. Coaches may try different things, but we have to stay with our process to ensure it's fair for both the offense and defense.'
Associated Press
06-02-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
NCAA committee to consider coaches' proposal to combat ‘unethical behavior' of fake injuries
A proposed rule change intended to discourage players from faking injuries that prompt unwarranted timeouts will be considered when the NCAA Football Rules Committee meets this month. Feigning injuries, sometimes at the coach's instruction, has become a tactic defenses use to slow down tempo offenses or as a way for an offense to avoid a delay of game penalty or get an extra timeout. The American Football Coaches Association submitted a proposal that would require a player who goes down on the field and receives medical attention to sit out the rest of that possession. Currently, the player must go out for one play before re-entering. 'The American Football Coaches Association is acutely concerned about this,' AFCA executive director Craig Bohl said. 'It goes against the grain of the betterment of our game and the ethics. We crafted this, we floated this, and it's been received well. I'm sure there'll be some pushback. Our point (to detractors) is give us something better if you don't like it.' The proposal has carveouts. A coach can use a charged timeout to get the player back on the field during the current possession. A player injured by a hit that results in a penalty would be exempt. Also, the one player on offense and one on defense with a green dot on his helmet, indicating he's allowed to receive radio communication from the sideline, can re-enter after one play. Injuries perceived to be feigned became such a hot topic in the Southeastern Conference last season that commissioner put out a November memo admonishing teams. 'As plainly as it can be stated: Stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create time-outs,' he wrote. The NCAA Football Rules Committee will meet the last week of February in Indianapolis, and the issue will be front and center. If the AFCA's proposal passes and is approved in the spring by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, it would go into effect next season. NCAA supervisor of officials Steve Shaw said Division I conference officiating coordinators gave their support during their annual meeting in Irving, Texas, last week. Shaw showed the coordinators a video montage of players feigning injuries, sometimes laughably so. Shaw said anyone who doesn't think fake injuries are a problem would change their opinion after watching the video. 'Eventually, you're like, 'This is awful. This is pitiful,' 'said Shaw, who doesn't have plans to make the video public. One of the clips shows a player with what appears to be a cramp. 'The trainer walks him out and the guy has this huge grin on his face,' Shaw said. 'The trainer makes him lay down and he does the typical stretching his leg out. The trainer is grinning at him, and (the player) pops right back up and he's up in the coaches' grouping to go back into the game.' Bohl said the biggest offenders are rotational players, like defensive linemen and running backs. 'They look over to the sideline and the coach is pointing down, and they fall down and another guy goes in,' Bohl said. 'By having that player have to sit out a whole possession, a coach, the ones skirting the rules are going to look and say, 'Do I really want to disadvantage my team by losing a rotational player?'' Bohl said if action isn't taken to eliminate fake injuries, the problem will get worse because coaches will decide if there is no deterrent, they are at a disadvantage if they don't have their players engage in the behavior as well. Bohl said the AFCA proposal might not be perfect, but it should decrease the number of egregious instances of players faking injuries. 'The AFCA cannot stand by and look at the unethical behavior of what we're doing in this aspect of our game,' he said.
