Courtesy of National Football Foundation Communications
IRVING, Texas (Aug. 3, 2016) – 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 2016 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 fourth 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 Ph. D. in physical chemistry from Vanderbilt. Redding was honored with the NFF’s Outstanding Football Official Award in 2010.
Here are the 2016 major rule changes as summarized by Rogers Redding:
Blocking Below the Waist
Offensive players who are outside the tackle box at the snap, and those who leave the tackle box after the snap, may only block an opponent below the waist if the force of the initial contact is directly at the opponent’s front. However, they may not block an opponent below the waist in a direction toward the original position of the ball unless the ball carrier has clearly crossed the line of scrimmage.
Input From a Medical Observer
In 2015, the committee approved an experimental rule that allows the Instant Replay official to interrupt a game at the request of a medical observer. This was to take care of the situation where the medical observer saw that a player had been injured on the field, but neither the officials nor the sideline personnel noticed this and therefore had not stopped the game. The committee received indications from a number of institutions that showed that this was a very successful experiment in 2015. So, for 2016 the committee has approved this as a permanent rule change.
Low Hits on the Passer
This rule that protects the passer is clarified that the tackler may not legally make forcible contact against the passer at the knee or below, even if he is making a wrap-up tackle.
Outcome of a Suspended Game
It is not uncommon for a game to be suspended because of weather or other unusual conditions. In the case of a weather delay, typically the game can be resumed after a delay when the weather clears. For those rare occasions where the game cannot be resumed, the rules provide four options: (1) resume at a later date; (2) end the game with a determined final score; (3) forfeit; or (4) declare no contest.
If the teams are in the same conference, conference policy dictates the outcome. However, if the teams are in different conferences, the current rule requires that the athletics directors of the teams agree on an outcome. Until this year the rules were silent on what happens if the two ADs can’t agree. The 2016 change says that in this event, the policy of the home team’s conference is used to determine the outcome.
Scrimmage Kick Formation
Punts and field goal attempts are classified as scrimmage kicks, because they are made as part of a play from scrimmage. The rules for scrimmage plays require the offense to have at least five linemen wearing jerseys numbered between 50 and 79. However, if a team is in a scrimmage kick formation, they may replace some of those players by linemen wearing numbers outside the 50-79 range; these typically are “speed players,” backs who are faster than the larger linemen and can get downfield faster to cover the kick.
Because some teams were beginning to “game” the rules by running or passing the ball from this formation, the rules committee felt that it needed to tighten the requirements. Under the new rules, a scrimmage kick formation must have a player at least 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage (the likely punter) OR a potential kicker and potential holder at least seven yards deep. Another important part of the rule is that “it must be obvious that a kick will be attempted.”
Sliding Ball Carrier: Defenseless Player
There are several situations where a player is considered “defenseless” for purposes of the targeting rule. Examples include a pass receiver who is concentrating on catching the ball and a kick-return man awaiting a punt. This year the committee added the ball carrier who has “obviously given himself up and is sliding feet-first.”
Starting the Clock Near the End of a Half
The rules give the referee broad authority in stopping and starting the game clock or the play clock if he feels that a team is manipulating the clock to gain an advantage. Near the end of a half, the clock rules become increasingly important.
Under most circumstances, if the game clock is stopped because of a penalty, it starts when the referee gives the “ready-for-play” signal after completing the penalty. This year, the committee passed a rule that takes effect inside two minutes in the half. This new rule requires that the clock be started on the snap if the team ahead in the score commits a foul. Under the current rule, the clock would be started on the ready-for-play signal, allowing the fouling team the chance to gain a time advantage by running perhaps 20 or more seconds off the game clock. The new rule prevents this.
Targeting: An Expanded Role for Instant Replay
By rule, every targeting foul is reviewed by the instant replay official. Up to this point, the replay official’s role has been to verify whether the forcible contact was with the crown of the helmet or was struck at the head or neck area of a defenseless player. Now as part of the review, the replay official is directed to examine all elements of the ruling made by the official on the field, not only the location of the forcible contact. In addition, the replay official is empowered to “create” a foul if he sees an obvious and egregious targeting action that the officials on the field miss. Because the action is so dangerous and the ejection penalty so severe, the committee has made these changes to increase the probability that targeting fouls are correctly ruled and administered.
Tripping the Ball Carrier
For a number of years it has been illegal for a player to stick out his foot or leg to trip an opponent, but it was legal to do this to the ball carrier. Because of leg injuries to runners over the past couple years, the committee now has made it illegal to trip any opponent, including the ball carrier.
TV Access Inside the Limit Lines
Television partners may briefly bring hand-held cameras inside the limit lines during certain dead-ball periods.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct by a Coach
For many years, NCAA football has had a rule wherein a player who commits two fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct is disqualified for the remainder of the game after the second foul. Interestingly enough, no such rule exists in college football for behavior by coaches. Football is the only NCAA sport that does not have such a rule. For example, in basketball when a coach receives two technical fouls, the second foul disqualifies him for the rest of the game.
The rules committee believes that as teachers and adult leaders of young athletes playing football, coaches should be held to a high standard of behavior appropriate to such a responsible position. Thus, starting in 2016, the rule will be that a coach who commits two fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct will be disqualified from the game. He must leave the playing field before the ball is next put into play, and he must remain out of view of the playing field for the remainder of the game.
Use of Technology for Coaching
The rules committee was recommending that coaches be allowed to use video and computers in the press box and the locker rooms, but after receiving expressions of concern from a number of conferences about implementing this change, the committee has voted to delay this new rule until 2017. This will give institutions more time to prepare for this major change in the use of technology. So there will be no change in the technology-for-coaching rule for 2016.
Experimental Rule: Collaboration in Instant Replay
In addition to these changes in the rules, the committee has approved an experimental rule for the 2016 season. This experiment will allow what is being referred to as a “collaborative approach” to the use of instant replay. This means that the replay official will be in communication with observers who are watching the game on television at a site other than the instant replay booth. The replay official will be in consultation with the remote observers while reviewing a play. The purpose is to allow for a second observer in addition to this replay official to assist in making the decisions about a review. As a part of the experimental rule process, conferences that use this approach will report back to the rules committee at next year’s meetings with the results of this experiment.
About College Football Officiating, LLC
College Football Officiating (CFO) was formed in 2008 by the NCAA and the Collegiate Commissioners’ Association for the purpose of ensuring consistent application of NCAA football playing rules and officiating mechanics; establishing a central leader for officiating; enhancing the existing Division I conference officiating programs to ensure officials and conferences adhere to NCAA and CCA rules and policies; and positioning the officiating community for the future in an attempt to present players, coaches and fans with the best experience possible.
For more on the CFO, go to https://cfo.arbitersports.com.
About the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include FootballMatters.org, the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, The William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Fidelity Investments, annual scholarships of more than $1.3 million and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, New York Athletic Club, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, PrimeSport, the Sports Business Journal, Under Armour and VICIS. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.
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