Coordinators –
The following 3 rules were modified for the 2020 season and all are in line and support the new Resocialization guidance released by the Sports Science Institute of the NCAA. These were approved by PROP yesterday, July 22. Let me know if there are questions.
Based on the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Rules Committee is recommending three playing rules changes to PROP for the 2020 season only. These changes will be re-evaluated after the 2020 Season for effectiveness and impact on the medical environment before being considered for 2021 and beyond.
Change 1 - Rule 1-2-4-a. - Team Area and Coaching Box
The Rules Committee is in unanimous support of expanding the Team Area for the 2020 season in response to COVID-19. This modification of Rule 1-2-4-a (Team Area and Coaching Box) is to allow Head Coaches the opportunity to reorganize their sideline in order to promote enhanced social distancing of all personnel within the Team Area. Specifically, the Team Area will be lengthened from the current configuration between the 25 yard lines and expanded to the 15 yard lines. This will enlarge the Team Area an additional 10 yards on each end of the Team Area, resulting in a 70 yard wide total team area. Coaches will be encouraged to utilize this 70 yard area to separate all team personnel and not have large groups congregating in a specific area near the ball. In addition, based on social distancing guidelines, Coaches are encouraged to stay out of the Restricted Area and remain in the Coaching Box.
Proposed Change:
ARTICLE 4. a. On each side of the field, a team area in back of the limit line and between the 25 15-yard lines shall be marked for the exclusive use of substitutes, athletics trainers and other persons affiliated with the team. The front of the coaching box shall be marked with a solid line six feet outside the sideline between the 25 15-yard lines. The area between the coaching line and the limit line between the 25 15-yard lines shall contain white diagonal lines or be marked distinctly for use of coaches (Rule 9-2-5). A 4-inch-by-4-inch mark is mandatory at each five-yard line extended between the goal lines as an extension of the coaching line for line-to-gain and down indicator six-foot reference points.
Change 2 - Rule 3-1-1-e. – Pregame Toss
Currently the toss rules allow up to 4 Captains from each team to be present at the toss of the coin. Additionally, there are typically many additional non-essential people present such as honorary captains, media, photographers, sideline radio personnel, etc. The change for 2020 would be to include only 1 Captain from each team and the Referee and the Umpire. These 4 individuals are the only essential people that can attend the toss, and these 4 individuals will be spaced out and will conform to social distancing guidelines. This will allow the toss and team decisions to flow exactly as they do today, and provide a safe environment for the student athletes and the officials. The Rules Committee was in unanimous support of this change for 2020.
Proposed Change:
e. Three minutes before the scheduled starting time, the referee shall toss a coin at midfield in the presence of not more than four one field captains captain from each team and another game official, first designating the field captain of the visiting team to call the coin toss. Before the second half, the referee will obtain the teams’ second-half options.
Rule 1-4-7-h. – Illegal Equipment
Rule 1-4-6-c (Optional Equipment) allows eye shields and also states that they must be clear and made from molded or rigid material. By interpretation, it is legal to extend the eye shield to the bottom of the facemask and if clear and made from molded or rigid material like the eye shield.
It is now being proposed that a player may alternately wear a cloth mask below the eye shield area, attached to the facemask and be legal. This mask would be considered a uniform attachment, and according to Rule 1-4-7-h (Illegal Equipment), uniform attachments, other than towels are not allowed; however, based on the Resocialization Guidelines and the Developing Standards for Practice and Competition released by the NCAA last week, this mash would follow nicely the specific recommendation that “Physical distancing and masks/cloth face coverings are an integral part of athletics, and should be practiced whenever feasible”. If approved, these masks would be considered a piece of optional equipment, and would need to follow the same guidelines as the helmet which states in Rule 1-4-4 that all must be of the same color and design and they should be of solid color with no advertising, slogans or insignia. Based on our current environment and the Resocialization guidelines, this cloth mask would be a potential piece of optional equipment that would help slow the spread of COVID-19 and would not have a negative competitive impact on the game.
Proposed Change – Illegal Equipment:
h. Uniform attachments other than towels (Rule 1-4-6-a) and medical masks made of cloth attached to the facemask below the eye shield area. If worn by any squad member of a team, medical masks must be of the same color and design and must be of a solid color with no advertising, slogans or insignia.
Steve Shaw
CFO National Coordinator of Football Officials
Secretary-Rules Editor, NCAA Football Rules Committee
