The NCAA football rules committee, chaired by Stanford head coach David Shaw, met this week in Indianapolis to make some suggestions and tweaks to current rules, as they do annually.
The major takeaway from this year's session is a proposal of a progressive penalty for players who pick up two targeting penalties in the same season. On top of being disqualified from that game, the player would also be suspended for the next game as well.
The other adjustment being proposed regarding targeting involves the instant replay review where instant replay officials will be asked to examine all aspects of the play and, according to the release from the NCAA, "confirm the foul when all elements of targeting are present. If any element of targeting cannot be confirmed, then the replay official will overturn the targeting foul. There will not be an option for letting the call on the field stand during a targeting review."
Essentially, the NCAA is saying when reviewing targeting replays officials will no longer say that "the call of targeting stands." They will either say the call is "confirmed," or "overturned."
Also, an examination of data showed that the fair-catch rule change on kickoffs in 2018 led to an overall decrease of injuries and the committee has voted to eliminate two-man wedge schemes on all kickoffs to continue that trend of making kickoffs safer.
The last thing covered in the release that has the potential to affect coaches is the change in overtime rules when games reach a fifth overtime. The committee has proposed a tweak that when teams reach a fifth overtime that the two teams will alternate two-point plays instead of starting drives at the 25-yard line in an effort to limit the number of plays fatigued players are facing and and wrap the game up.
Before being adopted, all of the proposals must go to an NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is scheduled to meet April 17th.
Head here to read the NCAA's full release.
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