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The NCAA Football Rules Committee recommended that kickoff spots be moved up and certain blocking rules be changed to cut down on injuries.
The NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel has announced rules changes for football, water polo, bowling, and volleyball. All are important, but let's focus first on the football changes, all of which appear to have been installed in the name of safety.
As had been proposed, kickoffs will be conducted from the 35-yard line instead of the 30, coverage teams won't be able to line up more than five yards from the 35, and touchbacks will be moved to the 25. A player whose helmet is removed must sit out a play, and new blocking rules will infuriate Georgia Tech. Details here.
Now, for the good stuff (for more water polo, please visit The Skip Shot):
PROP approved proposals in men's water polo that limit the course to 25 meters and shorten the shot clock to 30 seconds. Both become effective in the 2012-13 academic year. Previously, the men's course was not to exceed 30 meters and the shot clock was 35 seconds. The changes are being implemented with the goal of producing more offense.
The NCAA rules have been something that have been criticized on many different levels, but it looks like the NCAA is going to work to try and change some of these rules that people dislike so much. There have already been proposals to change things like kickoffs, but now the NCAA could change the rules on recruiting and players transferring.
The working group wrote that transfers could play immediately if leaving a school doesn't affect progress toward graduation, but noted that current transfer limits could be included in a new bylaw. Football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey currently have the most restrictive transfer rules, although waivers are sometimes granted for graduates.
Currently, if a player decides to transfer they must sit out a full season unless they transfer to a lower division of football or unless they've already graduated (I.E. Russell Wilson going from N.C. State to Wisconsin). This topic has been widely debated, as some are afraid of it turning into "free agency" while others point out the fact that players get the short end of the stick when they commit to a school and the coaching staff leaves for another job.
Another interesting topic that is already employed by some schools is the idea of athletic dorms.
Another topic up for discussion is athletic dorms. Once enormously popular, especially in the South as Bear Bryant mastered the concept at Alabama, athletic dorms were banned in 1991 when the NCAA adopted a rule to phase them out by 1996.
While the athletic dorms were phased out by the NCAA, it looks like they are willing to bring them back on. The group wants the NCAA to eliminate those restrictions and allow the schools to establish their own rules on housing athletes.
Most of the rule changes deal with the area of recruiting, however. One of the big areas of concern is allowing coaches to publicly speak about unsigned recruits, whereas this was previously a violation of NCAA rules. The group is also looking into a few other things, like limiting the amount of off-campus recruiters at one time and letting schools have earlier access to recruits.
The NCAA's rules committee wants more touchbacks. Among the suggested changes: moving kickoffs up to the 35 from the 30, limiting the running start space for coverage teamers, and moving touchbacks out to the 25. This isn't quite Greg Schiano's call to eliminate kickoffs in the name of safety, but it could still turn almost half of all kickoffs into formalities.
Let's talk about numbers!
The NCAA Football Rules Committee has recommended several rules proposals aimed at enhancing player safety for the upcoming season following a meeting this week.
The proposed changes are:
In other words, here's your list of things you'll be complaining about come September. All rules change recommendations must be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which meets via conference call Feb. 21.
Will New Kickoff Rules Just Make For General Mayhem?
by Jason Kirk
An error in our previous estimate on what the NCAA's new kickoff rules will mean in the college game: assuming it would all follow the NFL's example. College coaches are more daring than their pro counterparts, and with four times as many teams, surely somebody out there is gonna start trying some really crazy stuff. Touchbacks coming out to the 25 could make for the clearest exploit.
Colorado coach Jon Embree foresees as many injuries as ever thanks to pooch kick strategies aimed at landing kickoffs inside the five-yard line, thus forcing a return of 20-plus yards just for the receiving team to break even.
Mar 06 11:52a