SDS Roundtable: If you could change one thing about college football, what would it be?
Each SDS roundtable discussion involves the SDS staff providing individual answers and comments to questions covering a wide range of sports and non-sports topics. In this discussion, we turn back to college football, and ask the question if you could change one thing, what would it be?
Previous roundtable discussions:
Michael Bratton:
I’d like to see new coaches be able to sign an extra scholarship player for every player that leaves the program after their hire — even if that number exceeds the annual 25 scholarship limit.
For example, we all know how bad Arkansas has been recently but some of that is due to the fact the Razorbacks committed to a complete 180 on offense going from Bret Bielema to Chad Morris. Those kids that signed on to play in a smashmouth style program should have been given the freedom to leave without penalty (something the NCAA is apparently working toward). By allowing the next coach the ability to oversign, he could fill the roster with players that fit his scheme and the turnaround would happen quicker.
I love college football but it’s obvious the teams at the top are at a huge advantage and I favor doing what we can to ensure the teams trying to catch up can do so as quickly as possible. It’s not good for the SEC when Arkansas is down, I would think the league wants all teams to be competitive and allowing new coaches to have a complete roster full of handpicked players would be a big step in the right direction.
Chris Wright:
I would change several rules, but because we’re limiting it to 1: Let’s change the touchback rule on a fumble through the end zone.
Giving the defense the football when it didn’t recover the ball is nonsensical and not applied on any other part of the field. Why the defense is given a bailout defies all explanations, and we’ve all heard most of the reasons.
You want to punish the offense? Fine. Give them the ball at the 20 as if the play ended there. But even that is a drastic overreaction.
The logical thing to do is give the offense the ball wherever the player fumbled and carry on.
Connor O’Gara:
Remember when I did a story on that touchback rule after the fumble at the end of the A&M-Clemson game in 2018 and I asked a bunch of coaches on the teleconference what they thought of the rule and they all thought I was an alien? Fun times. Since Chris Wright already took the touchback rule, I’ll choose something else…
I’ll go with the need for there to be universal scheduling put in place at the Power 5-level. We need everyone to play the same number of conference games and everyone should have to play the same number of Power 5 teams in non-conference play. The fact that the NCAA still allows such a divide in the Playoff era is ridiculous. I don’t blame the ACC or SEC for having just 8 conference games, either. There’s nothing in the bylaws saying that they shouldn’t. I’ve always thought that this was going to be one of those “once Nick Saban retires we’ll address it” sort of deals with the NCAA. At this point, I’d take that.
Jon Cooper:
I know most are going to lean on changing the rules of the game, but I’m not. The rules are what they are, and the game is going to continue to get safer whether we like the rules or not. However, it would be incredible if the TV broadcasts could have insight of coach and player communication. Fans getting to experience the conversations between coaches and players (the clean conversations that is) and play-calls would be must-watch entertainment. Who came up with the play? Who called the play? That would all be made manifest during some aspects of broadcasts if coaches and players were wearing microphones.
Dustin Schutte:
What I’d most like to see changes to are the consequences to the targeting rule. Rather than a one-and-done type of mentality, I’d like to see the implementation of a two-foul system for individual players.
For the first targeting penalty, enforce a 15-yard penalty and force the player who committed the foul to sit out the remainder of the possession — or even a quarter could work. That’s still a pretty significant punishment for the team/player that gets penalized for targeting. On the second penalty for a player, an ejection is then warranted.This would still put an emphasis on player safety without necessarily ruining a game, or potentially a season, for an individual.
Kevin Duffey:
This is small, but does anyone agree with me that the championship game is played too long after the semifinal games? LSU smoked Oklahoma on December 28, 2019, then we had to wait 16 days until the championship game which was on January 13, 2019. It’s stupid. Too much time passes, and it feels like the season ended. Then all of a sudden, we have another game! Play the game a week later.
Speaking of championship games, let’s make the SEC Championship Game even bigger. Let’s rotate its venue around the southeast and let other stadiums experience the greatness of the game. Maybe we keep Atlanta on a rotation where the game is played there at least every three years to maintain some connection with the history.
Chris Marler:
I would like to see more accountability from several facets of collegiate sports. First, there needs to be more accountability from the NCAA when making universal and fair decisions that are congruent across the board for players, schools, etc. Mizzou’s bowl ban, and the blatant favoritism for high profile QB transfers was egregious last season.
I’d also like to see more transparency and accountability with the Playoff Committee when they address the criteria and determining factors for their rankings. Many times they seemed to change from week to week, especially for blue blood programs.
Lastly, I would like to see NCAA refs in ALL sports be held more accountable when they make mistakes. Suspensions, public acknowledgement of mistakes, and more competence across the board. Missed calls are obviously a part of the game. However, refs were way too involved, and inserted themselves far too often in football, basketball, and baseball games last year. If we need to pay them more to be full time or raise our standards of who is allowed to officiate games then conferences need to do it. No team should have a game, or their season, come down to a bad call.
Take teams out of the SEC that have no chance to be a contender ( Vandy and Tennessee ) and replace them with potential teams such as Va Tech and Appy State. Tennessee and Vandy are just embarrassing. Sad that the other 12 teams have to pull them along.
I know a Gator does not want to hear or admit this, but Tennessee is the second most successful team in SEC history.
Just not lately…
That’s debatable now. There was an article before the season started that had UT second in the conference, but barely ahead of UGA and LSU. Then, LSU went out and won another NC.
Debatable?
Remind me who is the reigning National Champions in baseball. Remind me who has the highest academic grades. Yes, let’s get rid of Vandy because their football team is not stellar. I. Can’t stand UT but there is zero reasons for them to be kicked out.
The SEC is already easily the strongest conference in the country. What is the point of making it even harder? I don’t understand the logic of that. Vandy could certainly be better in football, but you’re correct in that they have a great baseball program in a conference full of outstanding baseball programs.
Yeah and I’m a HUGE fan of Kumar Rocker. He is sooo good. And his dad played at Auburn in football.
This is the absolute dumbest comment ever. Did anyone call for Florida to be removed from the SEC in 1979 when they went 0-10-1? Didn’t win a single game.
If an SEC Mount Rushmore were carved into the side of, oh we will go with the other side of Stone Mountain, Robert Neyland would belong on it. His is one of the most unique and interesting stories in SEC history.
Neyland, Bryant, Spurrier, Saban.
Fake News from a Fake Fan. I can only believe by your username that you are 14 years old, thus the lack of humor, facts, or even an modicum of relevance.
Go away boy, you make us all look bad and God knows we look bad enough as is without you dribbling dumbarse down your chin and spilling it all over the place.
Idiot
TruDawg with his 37th fake ID.
After reading his comment I was shocked that a SEC fan wasn’t clamoring to have Mizzou removed from the conference. But it seems he’s either trolling UT or he’s a fake account stirring the pot.
Amen to the touchback fumble rule.
I would also set the four-team playoff in concrete so that people could stop whining when their two-loss team with its best win being an OT victory over Chulafinney St didn’t make the playoffs because the Big Ten has to be represented.
Amen to the touchback fumble rule? Please explain how it is fair for the defense to cause a fumble that nobodies recovers but the offense gets the ball. If it goes out on the one they get rewarded for a bad play. Because the defense didn’t recover it before it went out they are penalized. Hmmm, seems fair. As a Bama fan I still can’t believe Ingrams fumble went 30 yards before kicking out of bounds in the end zone but that is no reason to give the offense every advantage.
Seems like I’m the only one who is contrarian on this, but here goes…
The consequence of the offense fumbling through the endzone they are trying to score in seems pretty fair, when you consider the following…
If you fumble out of your own endzone, the other team gets two points (A Safety!). Even if nobody recovers it! And, not only that, they get to receive a kick/punt from the team that just gave up the safety. And not only that, the ensuing kickoff comes from the 20-yard line, so the team that just got two points will now (typically) get great field position to begin their next drive.
So in light of all that, I think the “touchback-fumble” rule is a fair consequence.
Personally, I don’t really like the touchback fumble rule. I remember when it was a thing though. It just puts more stress on teams. But this rule isn’t the worst rule they could put back in. Who knows. Maybe it would be better for college football.
Maybe expand the playoff to include all the Power 5 Conference champs, 2 at large bids from rest of Power 5 and the top Group of 5 contender.
Why should a G5 team that played a nothing of a schedule get an auto spot in the playoff? If there is an eight team playoff, they need to be ranked accordingly.
Excellent point. That point extends to the Power 5 schools. An automatic bid to a 2 or 3 loss conference champion is nonsensical. Plus, not all conferences are equal.
Dartha you defeated your own point. True, not all conferences are equal, so a 3 loss LSU team could be better than a 1 loss Pac 12 team. Without automatic bids you don’t have a fair way to assess the competition between the conferences. Every conference deserves an opportunity to send their best team or teams to the playoff and let the chips fall where they fall.
I’d sooner throw you out a helicopter.
As the current system is functioning there are more and more reports of attendance in stadiums decreasing significantly. The four team playoff system has created a funnel effect for talent via recruiting perpetuating a continually increasing gap in talent for the teams that are perennially already making the playoff.
There are TV markets that are marginally tapped compared to what they could be, if a guaranteed representative from each conference will make the playoff each year. And there are teams that stumble out of the gate with an early loss, especially now that fall practices hav been “condensed” but could be on fire by the end of the year and make a run. Same as is seen in other college sports and in the pros. The door has been opened with this small playoff. Are we rewarding a team for overall wins and losses based largely on quality wins stemming from preseason rankings?
Giving a group of 5 team a shot also gives them representation and a shot. Quells any speculative argument and paired against the number one team in the playoff gives incentive to being number one for that power 5 team at the regular season conclusion.
Maybe all conferences are not equal, I don’t know any sport where they are? But inclusion may boost those that are lagging behind further and further in the current system and when the question of the article is asked of me, I think the sport was more enjoyable when many teams the have fallen by the wayside somewhat like USC, Texas, Nebraska.
*when those teams were contenders
I see your point. The Top heavy factor in CFB is going to hurt it long term. While I am not a big playoff fan in general, it looks like 8 teams is going to have to happen to get more teams involved.
As for the G5, I don’t know. I don’t see what having the #1 seed blowing out a team in round 1 adds to the playoffs. Plus, how would it be losing Tua (as an example) in a 56-10 blowout.
Yes the injury situation is a possibility. Always need luck when making a title run. Who can forget that nasty leg injury Carson Palmer suffered against the Steelers- probably one of the best Bengal teams fielded in their history.., and I would bet there have been player injuries suffered by 1 seeds vs 16s in the NCAA tournament. That’s a matter of coaches making the call when to pull players but sometimes tragedy still strikes.
And I see below in the thread someone saying we just need to seed the “best” teams. Yes that would be ideal, but maybe I see things through SEC colored glasses but in the past 20 years I bet 2-4 of the best teams in the country were all in the SEC. If we put them all in the playoff it becomes regional again and the sport will continue to slump. It would be how we differentiate college from pros.
Absolutely stellar -ly adverb use there, sir.
CFB has always been top heavy…
Exactly. If people would actually go look at the all-time list of national champions, it looks almost exactly like what a top 10 poll would look like today with a few cursed exceptions (sigh).
Ridiculous You pick the best teams.
The championship game is doing fine in Atlanta. Don’t be one of those people that wants change for the sake of change.
You’re right it’s doing great in Atlanta but i don’t know, maybe it would be cool if they alternated to New Orleans too
Only if they are going to alternate the sugar bowl.
Yeah
The only change I would make would be the selling of the tickets. They should all be released at the same time, after the two teams locked in are finalized. Yeah, that doesn’t really allow much time to plan…but it’s hardly a fair environment when UGA locks up their spot 4 weeks before the team from the West. It’s a given home field advantage.
All conferences aren’t equal so I don’t know why scheduling should be. The SEC should stick with what works. I like the proposed change for the fumble in the end zone rule. It’s ridiculous that the defense gets the ball. The championship game should definitely not be over two weeks after the semi. That is too long.
Is it ridiculous that the offense gets the yardage if the ball is fumbled forward before it goes out of bounds. Is it ridiculous for the offense to get a first down on that play? The offense gets rewarded for a bad play and the defense gets penalized for a good play. That makes sense. Just another double standard rule huh. Defense jumps off sides and the offense gets a free play. Offense jumps off sides and it is a dead play.
I believe if the ball is fumbled forward the ball is spotted where the fumbled occurred.
I think that is an NFL rule.
Pretty sure it’s college too.
The offense shouldn’t get the yardage any more than the defense should get the ball.
I’m OK with changing the rule to where the offense keeps the ball, but there definitely should be a penalty. Call it a 15 yard delay of game or whatever.
I find the touchback blowback plain stupid. If the offense fumbles the ball and it rolls 20 yards before it goes out of bounds they get the yardage. If the ball goes out on the one they get the ball on the one and don’t have the ball placed where the fumble occurred. Getting the ball back because it goes out in the end zone is rewarding a bad play. Does the defense get to keep the ball after an interception if a penalty occurs away from the ball? No. Stupid argument from some one who must never have played.
I believe if the ball is fumbled forward the ball is spotted where the fumbled occurred.
I thought so too but I recall Tennessee’s Dobbs fumbling a football forward into the end zone that was recovered by a different Tennessee player for a touchdown against Appalachian State?
I believe if it’s fumbled forward and rolls out of bounds it’s spotted where the fumbled occurred but when it’s recovered in bounds or in the end zone it’s spotted where it’s recovered. The fumbling in the back of the end zone shouldn’t allow the defense to just have the ball with no recovery IMO. All fumbles should be placed where they happen unless it is recovered in bounds by the non fumbling team.
Two feet required for a completed catch.
Inbounds. (Not aware of any one-footed college football players.)
I don’t like two feet. If they can catch it with only one foot the players will feel more free to make a play and the one foot rule can make catches more athletic and exiting
Have always thought that the penalty for holding should be 5 yards, not 10.
It used to be 15 yards. If the offense is going to get an automatic first down for defensive holding, then the penalty should be 10 yards against the offense.
I agree with 5 yards. 10 yards is simply too much
Cap coach salaries at $200,000
Amen
Cap income? Are you a socialist?
Players’ incomes are capped way more.
I think athletic budgets in general need to be capped for public universities. I know some make a lot of money, that’s not the case for most. People getting rich off of public funds should stop.
Get rid of the stupid opposite conference lock games played each yr. Rotate them so all teams have new opponents each year. Alabama has gotten the softest opponent lately with TN and of course Lsu-Fl gets to wreck their seasons early with this matchup. This makes a more interesting schedule at the end not just look at Bama again, they just have to try and get up for the Iron Bowl and they’re in the playoffs. Or all they have to do is beat LSU in a rematch. Get real people.
Always a good idea to make rules based upon hatred of a team. Those locked-in rivalry games fluctuate like everything else. Sometimes they’re a gift and other times they can be a curse. There have been plenty of seasons where no one cared about the LSU/FL game, but now it’s more interesting, just like TN (who appears to be improving) will once again become a major game. The bigger issue is the disparity between the East and the West.
You counter your own argument. Yes, it’s cyclical. Just like there were plenty of seasons where no one cared about LSU/UF, there was a period where the East dominated. And, I am pretty sure it’s been pretty even the last couple years. Of course, your team, Bama, distorts things. Take them out and the disparity probably isn’t much at all.
When was the last All TN game competitive? The year of the TN NC?
As long as Ala and Aub are in different divisions as Tenn and Ga, the permanent game will stay. What I wish is that one day the Big 12 blows up. Add two teams from there (okla,tex maybe), then kick Bama and Auburn to east. Problem solved.
Much more likely that the Big 12 and PAC 10 hook up in the future in some manner.
Texas isn’t giving up their TV contract to join the SEC.
Pac 12*
Would rather have two local teams like GT and Clemson or a Florida team. Missouri and A&M already don’t make sense, especially Missouri’s division.
Yeah and I think Missouri could actually win significant games in a different conference. I’d really like it if Georgia Tech moved back in
I’d like Auburn to be moved to the east so that we could play Alabama in the SEC Championship. But that could actually make things harder on us. Beating Alabama twice would be hard.
I would like to keep the lock games, but do away with divisions. Everyone gets two permanent opponents, rotate the rest on an annual basis. Top two teams meet in ATL.
The SEC Championship game is a premier event in large part because if its permanent location in a huge city and no threat of weather issues. It would be the height of stupidity to move that game.
Ban the cupcake games.
Lol agreed
The length of time for the Champ game was a weird occurrence due to a previous event in NOLA. It shouldn’t happen again.
Connor, FYI, Coach Saban has long argued for a 9 game SEC schedule.
Yeah I’m nosy sure how waiting on someone that is for the 9 game schedule to retire helps establish the 9 conference games…. Anything to take a shot at Saban I guess..
Not*
The obvious thing hasn’t even been mentioned yet. The playoffs need to be expanded to at least 8 teams. Otherwise we are going to see the exact same playoffs on an annual basis. We’re almost always getting Bama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and occasionally the 2nd best SEC team or a surprise from the PAC12. I love college football but watching Clemson and Bama every single year is getting old.
Here’s my short list:
1) Expand the playoffs
2) End the one and done targeting rule
3) Allow ADs in a conference to veto a ruling by the NCAA
4) End the transfer punishment, allow student athletes to play and study wherever they wish.
5) Change the film angles for TV audiences to allow fans to actually watch a play develop instead of only getting to watch the QB. Many of the big-time games already offer the birds eye view and I would love to see every game from that view. Currently, you have no idea who is open and who isnt, you can’t tell if the QB is making good decisions or missing open guys, you can’t see what the defense is doing, where the safeties are sitting or the scheme, etc. The QB-focused side-line view doesn’t allow fans to truly get a sense of the game, which is sad.
It isn’t in the article, but it is in the comment section.
Found this one on Neil Blackmon’s desk….Ban any team from signing more than one elite 5star recruit. Lol
1. Send missoo back to the Big 12 or Big eight. I don’t care, just want them gone.
2. Move UCF to the SEC West. That way, we never have to hear about their football program again. Or shift one east team to the west and put UCF in the SEC East. That way they can get the crap beat out of them by Florida every year and we never have to hear about their football program again.
Targeting rule is too ambiguous, like the idea of two step fuling. Call offensive PI. Too many receivers push off, never called.
Football is a great game that has evolved over the years. With the exception of rule changes that benefit the safety of players, I do not see why folks keep looking for ways to change the game. Let it be!
P.S. I still can’t get used to the designated hitter rule in baseball!!!!
I really like the idea of a coach sign an extra recruit for every transfer.
Also, move around the SEC championship game through the south east. However, every school would have the chance to host the game. I don’t think as many fans would travel to Kentucky or south Carolina