College football rules group talks linemen and lenses, but not pace

INDIANAPOLIS — As members of the NCAA's Football Rules Committee wrapped up their annual meeting Wednesday afternoon after spending much of their time trying to figure out how to make better use of technology in game situations, they recognized what was missing.

"We were talking," said Rogers Redding, the NCAA's coordinator of football officiating and the committee's secretary-rules editor, "about how little football there was (in our discussions)."

They also realized how little controversy — in contrast to, say, a year ago — will likely result from the few relatively minor proposals they made. There's nothing even close to the 10-second rule, proposed in February 2014, which was designed to slow down hurry-up offenses. The debate over pace of play is all but dead.

Calhoun said there was no discussion of offensive tempo during the meetings. Why?

"There's no pertinent data that shows we had a safety problem," he said, adding that in his opinion, "(safety has) always been the driver."

Instead, the committee focused a large portion of their meetings over parts of three days on how to implement technology like helmet cams, helmet radios and iPads during games. Conferences will be encouraged to experiment. Calhoun, who told Paste BN Sports he could envision using video from helmet cameras on quarterbacks and defensive backs to correct mistakes during games — like some schools already do in practices — said he hopes the technology becomes the norm sooner rather than later, saying he'd like to see it used in several bowl games.

"We want to scoot along very, very rapidly," he said.

If helmet cams become standard, there would likely be pressure to use the views for TV broadcasts and perhaps even for instant-replay reviews of calls.

"Initially it will be the instructional value, the teaching with players," Calhoun said. "I imagine it wouldn't take too long to be asked if there can be a wire tapped into that for television or whoever that may be."

One rule proposal that could draw some pushback would alter the definition of linemen downfield. Offensive linemen are currently not considered ineligible receivers until they're more than 3 yards downfield. If the proposal is passed, linemen more than 1 yard beyond the line of scrimmage would have to be actively engaged with a defensive player when a pass is released (the limit would still be 3 yards).

Especially among spread offenses, such plays have become popular in run-pass option situations. During a victory agiainst Alabama in 2013, Auburn scored the tying touchdown late when quarterback Nick Marshall ran left, then pulled up and tossed a touchdown pass to a wide-open receiver. Similar plays popped up all over college football last year, and the Seattle Seahawks were among NFL teams that ran it successfully.

But defensive coaches have complained that offensive linemen were sometimes farther than 3 yards downfield on the plays, and that linemen moving downfield without engaging a defender were causing defenders to believe the plays would be runs.

"The officials were missing some, just because it's a difficult call to make," Redding said. "If the lineman fires off like that, the defense is reading run. Now let's say he's less than 3 yards, and all of the sudden there's a pass, and so that became kind of an unfair thing for the defense to have to deal with."

Among several other proposals made by the committee:

— Conferences will be allowed (but not required) to use an eight-person officiating crew.

— Players would be flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for pulling or pushing players off of piles.

— The sideline warning, rather than an initial 5-yard penalty, will be reinstituted for the first offense when players and coaches stray beyond the designated team area on the sidelines.

— Oversized facemasks will be prohibited.

— Players with illegal equipment issues will be required to leave the field for one play, unless the team takes a timeout to correct.

— Instant replay will be expanded to allow review, during onside kicks, of whether a kicking team player blocked the defender before the ball travels 10 yards. Also, timeouts called by head coaches can be reviewed in order to ensure correct clock-keeping.

— If a defensive player's helmet comes off in the final minute of a half, 10 seconds will be run off the game clock and the play clock will be set at 40 seconds, rather than 25 seconds in the past.

Though some coaches will be unhappy with the tweaked linemen downfield rule, it's unlikely to draw anything like the blowback of last year, when a proposal to require offenses to wait 10 seconds before snapping the ball prompted intense opposition. The committee withdrew the proposal before it went to the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, and the issue has since faded almost completely away.

Redding said an emphasis by officiating crews last season to maintain a standard pace — "a crisp jog" to set the football — had helped diffuse the issue. He also said defenses have adjusted to the pace.

Calhoun said the committee's relatively light workload was a result of having addressed several other issues in several recent years, when rules on targeting, blocking below the waist and kickoffs were addressed as attempts to protect players from injury. He said there's no urgency to tinker with the rules.

"The game is in a heck of a place," Calhoun said. "It's an extremely vibrant sport."

PROJECTING NEXT SEASON'S TOP 25