Excel
All-American
SIAP
Earlier this week Alabama coach Nick Saban and Arkansas Coach Bert Bielema voiced their concerns on player safety and HUNH style offenses to the NCAA Football Rules Committee. Wednesday, the committee responded to their concerns by proposing a new rule that would prohibit offenses from snapping the ball until 29 seconds or fewer remained on the play clock. The rule would not apply to spiking the ball to stop the clock or on drives with less than two minutes left in the game. LINK
Air Force HC and chairman of the committee Troy Calhoun said "This rules change is being made to enhance student-athlete safety by guaranteeing a small window for both teams to substitute." The committee has one other Head Coach for a member, Louisiana Lafayette HC Todd Berry. Both coaches are relative offensive sloths: Berry's Cajuns were 93rd in the country when it comes to plays per game with roughly 70 while Calhoun's Falcons were 104th in the country and ran 67.7 plays per game. LINK
The proposed rule change will be voted on by the NCAA oversight committee on March 6th.
Other coaches have since commented on the proposal:
Auburn HC Gus Malzahn: "When I first heard that, to be honest with you, I thought it was a joke. As far as healthy or safety issues, that's like saying the defense shouldn't blitz after a first down because they're a little fatigued and there's liable to be a big collision in the backfield."
Mississippi HC Hugh Freeze: "'Y'all are kidding me, That's not true?'"
Washington State HC Mike Leach: ""First off, doubt it will pass. Second, it's ridiculous. All this tinkering is ridiculous. I think it deteriorates the game. It's always been a game of creativity and strategy. So anytime someone doesn't want to go back to drawing board or re-work their solutions to problems, they beg for a rule."
Oklahoma State HC Mike Gundy (via twitter):
"The no huddle, fast tempo style has changed the game of CFB. Our sport has exploded in popularity with high scoring games & packed stadiums."
"College Football is constantly evolving. Coaches have to make adjustments based on their team, their talents and their opponents."
"The 10-second rule is like asking basketball to take away the shot clock - Boring!. It’s like asking a blitzing linebacker to raise his hand"
"Why change our sport at the peak of its popularity"
Rogers Redding, NCAA National Coordinator on Officiating weighed in by saying: "One could argue tempo is safety-related since it makes the game quicker and runs more plays. But I think the issue would be -- and one of the things the committee is always interested in -- is what's the balance between offense and defense?" but when Redding was asked whether this was really an issue of player safety and if players were at risk when playing in, or against, the HUNH he said "I think it's fair to say there's not really much hard data on this." LINK
Redding's admission raises an interesting question: Is the HUNH really that hazardous to player safety?
Randy Cohen, Chairman of the college committee of the National Athletic Trainers' Association said, "If you want to do it for a competitive advantage, then come out and say you're doing it for a competitive advantage. Don't say it's a safety issue because right now we don't have any data about this. None."
Dr. Jeffrey Dugas, Troy University's team physician and a sports medicine surgeon said, "That's a stretch, I find it hard to believe they're really hanging this rule on injury prevention. There's no question a hurry-up offense is going to fatigue a defense. If this is all being hung on fatiguing a defense and injury risk goes up, that's fine if there's data that supports the case."
LINK
So are Bielema and Saban actually concerned for player safety or does this have to do with how they stack up in SEC play?:
SEC Teams by average plays per game in the 2014 Season
#21 :Ole Miss (79.8)
#43: Missouri
#52: Georgia
#57: Miss State
#61: A&M
#62: Auburn
#73: SCAR
#87: Vandy
#98: Florida
#103: Tennessee
#105: ULSU
#113: Kentucky
#116: Alabama
#121: Arkansas (64.7)
A second question is, assuming that the HUNH does pose a unique threat to player safety and therefore deserves a mitigating rule change, will the "29 second" rule actually protect players?...how many HUNH teams actually snap the ball with more than 29 seconds on the clock? Not many. In the 2014 BCS NCG Auburn did it....once.
So what do you think? Are Bielema and Saban's positions driven by an altruistic interest in player safety or self preservation? Is the rule change warranted?
HUNH Guru and Auburn HC Gus Malzahn whispers comforting words in the ear of Alabama DC Kirby Smart
Earlier this week Alabama coach Nick Saban and Arkansas Coach Bert Bielema voiced their concerns on player safety and HUNH style offenses to the NCAA Football Rules Committee. Wednesday, the committee responded to their concerns by proposing a new rule that would prohibit offenses from snapping the ball until 29 seconds or fewer remained on the play clock. The rule would not apply to spiking the ball to stop the clock or on drives with less than two minutes left in the game. LINK
Air Force HC and chairman of the committee Troy Calhoun said "This rules change is being made to enhance student-athlete safety by guaranteeing a small window for both teams to substitute." The committee has one other Head Coach for a member, Louisiana Lafayette HC Todd Berry. Both coaches are relative offensive sloths: Berry's Cajuns were 93rd in the country when it comes to plays per game with roughly 70 while Calhoun's Falcons were 104th in the country and ran 67.7 plays per game. LINK
The proposed rule change will be voted on by the NCAA oversight committee on March 6th.
Other coaches have since commented on the proposal:
Auburn HC Gus Malzahn: "When I first heard that, to be honest with you, I thought it was a joke. As far as healthy or safety issues, that's like saying the defense shouldn't blitz after a first down because they're a little fatigued and there's liable to be a big collision in the backfield."
Mississippi HC Hugh Freeze: "'Y'all are kidding me, That's not true?'"
Washington State HC Mike Leach: ""First off, doubt it will pass. Second, it's ridiculous. All this tinkering is ridiculous. I think it deteriorates the game. It's always been a game of creativity and strategy. So anytime someone doesn't want to go back to drawing board or re-work their solutions to problems, they beg for a rule."
Oklahoma State HC Mike Gundy (via twitter):
"The no huddle, fast tempo style has changed the game of CFB. Our sport has exploded in popularity with high scoring games & packed stadiums."
"College Football is constantly evolving. Coaches have to make adjustments based on their team, their talents and their opponents."
"The 10-second rule is like asking basketball to take away the shot clock - Boring!. It’s like asking a blitzing linebacker to raise his hand"
"Why change our sport at the peak of its popularity"
Rogers Redding, NCAA National Coordinator on Officiating weighed in by saying: "One could argue tempo is safety-related since it makes the game quicker and runs more plays. But I think the issue would be -- and one of the things the committee is always interested in -- is what's the balance between offense and defense?" but when Redding was asked whether this was really an issue of player safety and if players were at risk when playing in, or against, the HUNH he said "I think it's fair to say there's not really much hard data on this." LINK
Redding's admission raises an interesting question: Is the HUNH really that hazardous to player safety?
Randy Cohen, Chairman of the college committee of the National Athletic Trainers' Association said, "If you want to do it for a competitive advantage, then come out and say you're doing it for a competitive advantage. Don't say it's a safety issue because right now we don't have any data about this. None."
Dr. Jeffrey Dugas, Troy University's team physician and a sports medicine surgeon said, "That's a stretch, I find it hard to believe they're really hanging this rule on injury prevention. There's no question a hurry-up offense is going to fatigue a defense. If this is all being hung on fatiguing a defense and injury risk goes up, that's fine if there's data that supports the case."
LINK
So are Bielema and Saban actually concerned for player safety or does this have to do with how they stack up in SEC play?:
SEC Teams by average plays per game in the 2014 Season
#21 :Ole Miss (79.8)
#43: Missouri
#52: Georgia
#57: Miss State
#61: A&M
#62: Auburn
#73: SCAR
#87: Vandy
#98: Florida
#103: Tennessee
#105: ULSU
#113: Kentucky
#116: Alabama
#121: Arkansas (64.7)
A second question is, assuming that the HUNH does pose a unique threat to player safety and therefore deserves a mitigating rule change, will the "29 second" rule actually protect players?...how many HUNH teams actually snap the ball with more than 29 seconds on the clock? Not many. In the 2014 BCS NCG Auburn did it....once.
So what do you think? Are Bielema and Saban's positions driven by an altruistic interest in player safety or self preservation? Is the rule change warranted?
Last edited by a moderator:
