Looks like Kiffin has made a lasting impact to college football, after all.
The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Wednesday approved modifications to the injury timeout rules in football, beginning with the 2025-26 season.
Under the new rule, if medical personnel enter the field to evaluate an injured player after the ball is spotted by the officiating crew for the next play, that player’s team will be charged a timeout.
If the team does not have any timeouts remaining, a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty will be assessed.
So if we have someone flopping magically as a play is about to start, lose a timeout or move back a little. But does five yards really impact this act if you’ve got no timeouts and the game is on the line? Doubtful.
In other rule changes, someone’s finally paying attention to the long snappuh…
No offensive player can be in the direct line of the snap to the potential kicker or within the frame of the snapper on punts for the formation to qualify as a scrimmage kick formation. If a team is not in scrimmage kick formation, it must have five players numbered 50 through 79 on the line of scrimmage. Additionally, if the snapper is on the end of the line by formation, the snapper will lose scrimmage kick protection, and the opposition can line a player over the snapper.
2024 was a heck of a year for reflection on things.
Now do NIL, NCAA.
Mr Justin Fields says « Amen » to the punt formation change.
That’s a mere band-aid that will do little to solve the problem. The infraction should be worth at least 10, preferably 15 yards. The ‘injured’ player must leave the field and cannot return until the next possession. Kiffin will simply make sure the injuries occur before the ball is spotted.
Key phrase medical personnel. Nothing says in concern for team building and safety Lane Kiffin’s team won’t learn first aid. Miracles of healing will happen. This will not stop flopping.
Is this change on punts so teams can’t put a potential QB in shotgun and a punter behind him and have the QB slide out of the way and serve as a personal protector on the punt? I can see why you would remove scrimmage kick protection from such a scenario, I just wasn’t aware this had become a problem. Typically if a coach comes up with a way to exploit a loophole in a rule they’ll do that for a season before it gets fixed. Interested to hear how this came to be.
Wow! We just got a crumb the Grinch wouldn’t take from a mouse. THE GAME HAS BEEN SAVED BECAUSE TEAMS WILL GIVE UP 5 YARDS TO CHEAT!!! Thanks for absolutely nothing Charlie Sierras
That flopping rule is a big fucking nothing burger with an extra fucking scoop of fucking nothing. Player looks to sideline, player flops, medical personnel don’t come onto field, player walks off field. Same old, same old.
That will be interesting to see how the refs enforce that. They’ll whistle an official TO once the player flops and expect medical team to come out. If they don’t and player “limps” off, what’s the call? You’ll often see players slow to get up after a play and maybe even trot off with no TO but these flops come after the ball has been set and often near the LOS. Hope this new rule still applies to that. I hope the fine to the HCs still applies too. Lose $100k and the wife will take notice.