NCAA proposes football rule change for 2022 calendar year

Spring practices across college football could look a bit different starting this year, as the NCAA’s Division I Football Oversight Committee met Tuesday and recommended two proposals regarding physical contact for them.

One of the committee’s proposals would limit full contact – which includes tackling to the ground – in spring practices to no more than 75 minutes per practice that isn’t a scrimmage. The other proposal would keep teams from practicing with full contact drills on consecutive days throughout the spring.

While the NCAA’s Playing and Practice Season Subcommittee looked over the two proposals and its findings were unanimously supported by the committee, the recommendations must now be approved by the Division I Council. The council is scheduled to meet Wednesday in Indianapolis, according to the NCAA’s release.

As those two rule changes were proposed, the NCAA said that the remaining rules for spring practices are unchanged. Those rules include:

• Practices can be conducted over a 34-day period with 20 hours per week of unrestricted activities. Players must receive one day off per week.
• 15 on-field practice sessions may be held, with no more than 12 involving contact.
• Full contact may not occur until the third practice.
• Eight of the 12 contact practices can involve tackling, and no more than three of those eight may be devoted to 11-on-11 scrimmages.
• During non-contact practice sessions, headgear may be worn.

College football insider provides latest on Caleb Williams timeline

ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel joined SportsCenter Wednesday afternoon to discuss the latest news across college football. The only logical place to start any discussion about the current offseason is transfer portal movement and the latest on the timeline of former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams.

After breaking down the factors which will impact Williams’ decision most and providing an update on the dozen schools he has met with over zoom or in-person, Thamel moved to a timeline for the commitment and enrollment of the star quarterback.

“This is a nebulas,” said Thamel. “The Williams’ first process, when Caleb was in high school, took a year and a half. And Carl said, ‘we’ve got to do it now in two weeks.’ So it could as soon as the end of this week, but there’s also teams on the quarter system where they could wait until March. They want to see how NFL hires that could trickle down to college shake out because they really want NFL training for Caleb Williams to best prepare him for pro football.”