Category Archives: Rules

Need-to-Know Rule Changes for 2017 College Football Season

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For Immediate Release: August 23, 2017

Need-to-Know Rule Changes for 2017 College Football Season
CFO and NFF team up to highlight the changes designed
to protect players and increase safety

The NFF has partnered with College Football Officiating national coordinator Rogers Redding to highlight the key rule changes that will take effect during the 2017 college football season.

For a copy of this release in PDF format, click HERE, or view it at FootballFoundation.org.

IRVING, Texas (Aug. 23, 2017) – As the season draws near, the month of August provides the perfect time for the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame to highlight the key rule changes that will take effect during the 2017 college football season.

Since 2011, the NFF has partnered with Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating (CFO), to help generate awareness for the rule changes in college football through a series of regular columns distributed by the NFF. The CFO functions as the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level, and the organization held its annual winter meeting of conference coordinators for football officials in late January for the fifth consecutive year at the NFF headquarters in Irving, Texas.

Having officiated football for more than three decades, Redding started his career working high school football in Texas. He later officiated in the Southwest Conference from 1988-93, served as a referee in the Southeastern Conference for nearly a decade and worked three national championship games. He received his bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech and later obtained a masters and PhD in physical chemistry from Vanderbilt. Redding was honored with the NFF’s Outstanding Football Official Award in 2010.

The NCAA football rules committee recommended a very small number of changes for the 2017 season, and these were approved earlier this year by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP).  Because 2017 is the “off year” for changes, the committee was limited to making rules that directly impact the safety of the players. Here are the 2017 major rule changes as summarized by Rogers Redding:

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POP Pass (or RPO Pass)

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by Travis Normand

This season should feature plenty of “POP” Passes.  Not sure what a POP Pass is?  No problem, as the two articles that I have posted below explain it perfectly.  These articles are mandatory reading before the 2015 season starts as I am sure this will be a recurring discussion topic.  In fact, with so much focus on the rules surrounding a proper POP pass, I fully expect to see more flags for the “ineligible man downfield” penalty.

Here are the articles discussing the POP or RPO Pass:

  1. http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/7/31/9077143/pop-pass-ncaa-football-rules-2015
  2. http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/8/20/6044003/read-option-pass-play-football-xs-os-diagrams

 

Need-to-Know Rules Changes for 2014 Season

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Press Release: National Football Foundation – see release HERE at FootballFoundation.org

CFO and NFF team up to highlight the changes designed to protect players and increase safety.

IRVING, Texas (Aug. 6, 2014) – Since 2011, The National Football Foundation (NFF) has partnered with Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating (CFO), to help generate awareness for the rule changes in college football through a series of regular columns distributed by the NFF. With training camps in full swing, the month of August provides the perfect time for the NFF to highlight the key rule changes and officiating points of emphasis that will be in effect during the 2014 season.

The Four Major Rule Changes for the 2014 Season

1.  Targeting Fouls: Instant Replay Can Remove the 15-Yard Penalty

Part of the penalty for targeting fouls is that the player is ejected from the game. In games where instant replay is used, the player is returned to the game if the video review shows conclusively that there was no forcible contact to the head and neck area or with the crown of the helmet. If this happens in 2014, and there is not another personal foul in combination with the targeting foul, then the 15-yard penalty is also erased. Examples of combination personal fouls include roughing the passer and kick or catch interference. In cases where such fouls are accompanied by a targeting call, the 15-yard penalty will still be enforced, even if the player’s ejection is overturned.

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8 Need-to-Know Rules Changes for 2013 Season [Press Release]

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To see the original press release from the NFF, click HERE

NFF and CFO team up to highlight the changes designed to protect players and increase safety.

IRVING, Texas (August 7, 2013) – Since 2011, The National Football Foundation (NFF) has partnered with Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College Football Officiating (CFO), to help generate awareness for the rule changes in college football through a series of regular columns distributed by the NFF. With training camps in full swing, the month of August provides the perfect time for the NFF to highlight the key changes featured in Redding’s columns during the past several months that will be in effect during the 2013 season. “We want to protect the game and to help reduce critical injuries with this message: play the game hard but stay away from serious fouls,” said Redding, who claimed the NFF Outstanding Football Official Award in 2010 after a three decade career in the Southwest Conference and the Southeastern Conference. “By making changes, we are signaling that the safety of the student-athlete stands at the very top of our list of priorities. The clear intent is to change player behavior.” The CFO functions as the national professional organization for all football officials who work games at the collegiate level, and the organization held its annual winter meeting of conference coordinators for football officials in late January at the NFF headquarters in Las Colinas, Texas. The NCAA Football Rules Committee subsequently adopted the CFO’s recommendations to create a safer environment for football student-athletes.

The 8 Major Rule Changes for the 2013 Season
(click on each headline for further details)

(1) Targeting Fouls: Automatic Ejection, Part I:

Players will automatically be disqualified from the game for targeting fouls, including (Rule 9-1-3) targeting and initiating contact with the crown of the helmet, and (Rule 9-1-4) targeting and initiating contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, elbow or shoulder.  The foul itself has not changed.  These plays have been illegal for a number of years, but the penalty has been stiffened to include automatic ejection plus the 15-yard penalty.

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CFB Rule Theory

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by Travis Normand

Last fall (2012), Nick Saban voiced his concern over the fast-paced no-huddle offense. However, Saban is not the only coach to have some thoughts about the no-huddle as Arkansas’ head coach Bret Bielema recently (June 2013) made some comments as well.

Bielema went so far as to actually suggest a potential rule change that would allow a defense to substitute its players during an opposing team’s no-huddle offensive drive.  In discussing his idea, Bielema was careful to say that his rule change was more about a defensive players safety than a desire to slow-down, or stop, a fast-paced offense.

Despite Saban’s and/or Bielema’s intention, we now have a debate:  Should we institute a rule change that would allow a defense to substitute its players during an offense’s fast-paced no-huddle drive, and potentially run the risk of negating that offense’s entire strategy?

One might argue that the current rule is unfair to a defense (and thus more than fair to an offense).  While I can agree that is a valid argument, I do not believe it justifies a rule change.

The current rule on substitutions is basically that if the offense doesn’t substitute, then the defense cannot substitute.  This allows an up-tempo offense to run play after play, with little time between each play, and to control if and when the defense can substitute its players.

However, this strategy, employed by many offenses throughout college football, is a strategic advantage found within the current rules.  There was no rule change granted to the offensive coordinators of the world in order to give them this advantage.

Having said that, it would make sense that if a defense wants to find a way to stop an up-tempo, fast-paced offense, they must do so within the current confines of the rules as they now stand.  The defensive coordinators should not be given a proverbial “12th Man,” or rule change, in order to help them find a way to stop these offensive attacks.

In other words, fair or not, I don’t believe the rules should be changed simply because one side appears to have gained an advantage over the other.