In the world of collegiate athletics, the NCAA is in charge of keeping coaches accountable and players safe. With an entire handbook full of rules, it can be a challenge to stay up-to-date with the most important. Here is a list of the top 5 NCAA football rules that you should know about:
- No more two-a-days
Recently, the NCAA decided to remove full-contact practices twice in the same day. A lot of teams already adopted this rule on their own in the past, and now the NCAA is making it a requirement for all college football teams. Teams can still have two practices a day, but only one can be in full pads. The second practice would have to be a video review, lifting, walkthroughs, etc.
Previously, signing day was in February and caused a lot of stress on the staff of teams players were signing to. As of June 2017, the NCAA adopted an early three-day window right before Christmas, in which recruits can sign their Letters of Intent. This will make the overall signing process more streamlined for support staff.
- Earlier official visits
This one is super important for recruits. Previously to the NCAA changing this rule, students could not start taking their five official visits until school started. Now, the early period of official visits starts April 1st of the junior year and ends the week before the last Wednesday of June. This allows students to make visits over the summer and could relieve a lot of stress of trying to schedule visits while completing their senior year.
- No more jumping over defensive lineman to block a kick
This rule helps in the player safety aspect. Players can no longer hurdle over the line of scrimmage to block a field goal or extra-point attempt. This player safety initiative was decided upon by the NCAA committee decided that players get caught in the air too often with the risk of landing on their heads.
- Coaches can be ejected
Even though an example of this hasn't happened yet, it is still an important rule to be aware of. Any coach who receives two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls in one game can be ejected. This brings football on level playing ground with other collegiate sports which also have this rule.
With these new initiatives, the NCAA hopes to increase player-safety and help relieve some stress of the recruiting process.
* Originally published on October 2, 2017, by Emily Goff
