The NCAA is close to approving an updated 2020 pre-season schedule that could see teams begin mandatory workouts as soon as July 6, according to a report Monday from Sports Illustrated‘s Ross Dellenger.
The plan is being hammered out by the NCAA’s Division I Football Oversight Committee — which consists of 20 members, largely ADs, and includes AFCA executive director Todd Berry as a non-voting member — and could be formally approved as soon as Thursday. The Football Oversight Committee will present its plan for formal approval to the Division I Council on June 17 for final approval.
“We’re 90 percent there,” West Virginia AD Shane Lyons, a Football Oversight Committee member, told SI.
In the plan, teams that begin the season on Sept. 5 could begin mandatory workouts on July 13, “enhanced training” on July 24, and traditional training camp on Aug. 7. Teams that play Week 0 could begin a week earlier, meaning formal preparations for the 2020 season could begin as soon as July 6.
In enhanced training, teams would be allowed 20 hours per week of contact between players and coaches:
— Eight hours of strength training and film review
— One hour of daily team meetings
— One hour of daily walk-throughs
The walk-throughs would permit teams to use a football, though players could not wear helmets or pads.
A point of contention could arrive with the beginning of training camp, which coaches view as important because it gives them unlimited time with players so long as classes are not in session (when the 20-hour limit goes back into effect).
A number of schools have bumped up their fall semester start date in order to conclude the semester before Thanksgiving. For instance, Notre Dame begins classes Aug. 10, giving Brian Kelly and company a single weekend of a traditional training camp schedule.
