Mandatory Equipment in College

[John B]

The current NCAA Football Rules require this
Knee Pads - knee pads must be covered by pants. Further more the pants and the knee pads must cover the knees.
Why is this not enforced in all the games i have watched this season?

Do officials have some type of work ban on these rules?

[ElvisLives]

John,
The reason is that, although the rules are 100% created by coaches, athletic directors, and commissioners (who are almost 100% former coaches), those same people, as well as virtually every on-field coach, offer NO support to officials who attempt to enforce those rules. In the first few seasons that the NCAA attempted to make enforcement of those rules a “point of emphasis,” virtually every attempt - coast to coast, border to border - to get compliance on game day were met with great resistance, and criticism of officials by coaches and school administrators of officials being overly officious. And, the pants get altered to the point they can’t be brought into compliance, and all we hear from the coaches is, “That’s what the uniform suppliers sent us!” And, if we tell them to get pants with longer legs, they give us, “That’s all we have. We don’t have any more pants.” So, the rules makers started using a term, “Significantly out of compliance” as the standard for unacceptable pants. That changed nothing, and still no support from NCAA leadership. Bottom line: coaches don’t care, and they aren’t gonna risk offending their players to the point they don’t stick around (there is a transfer portal, you know).
You won’t hear NCAA officials state this, publicly, but everybody gave up on enforcing the pants/knee pad rule a couple of years ago.
And that’s that.
You can add mouthpieces to that same phenomenon. And ‘towel tails.’ Oh…have you actually seen any hip pads, lately? How about those undershirts hanging down to their thighs?

[John B]

Thanks for the reply. I officiate in Australia using IFAF rules (basically College rules, one season behind). You may be interested the practice is like a virus, spreading around the American Football Worldwide.
As for mouth guards, not such an issue, as we mainly use mouth guards like Rugby and few use the attached mouth guard. No visual copy cat behaviour!
Has there been no significant increase in injury from no lower pads?

[ElvisLives]

Thanks for the reply. I officiate in Australia using IFAF rules (basically College rules, one season behind). You may be interested the practice is like a virus, spreading around the American Football Worldwide.
As for mouth guards, not such an issue, as we mainly use mouth guards like Rugby and few use the attached mouth guard. No visual copy cat behaviour!
Has there been no significant increase in injury from no lower pads?

I don’t think any stats related to knee injuries has been published. At least not as it may be associated with knees protected, or not protected.
Many folks don’t realize that knee pads were originally intended to reduce injuries to heads, before hard-shell helmets became part of player equipment. So, the fact that no one seems to be too concerned about knee injuries because they aren’t protected is not hard to understand.

[ilyazhito]

That is mind-blowing to realize that knee pads were not designed to protect the knees, even though they are intended to be worn on the knees (D1 equipment shenanigans notwithstanding).

I'm not sure what the motivation is for coaches, ADs, and commissioners to discourage officials from enforcing the equipment rules. If it is their players potentially getting hurt because of improperly worn equipment, I would expect coaches to want the officials to enforce the equipment rules.

[ElvisLives]

That is mind-blowing to realize that knee pads were not designed to protect the knees, even though they are intended to be worn on the knees (D1 equipment shenanigans notwithstanding).

I'm not sure what the motivation is for coaches, ADs, and commissioners to discourage officials from enforcing the equipment rules. If it is their players potentially getting hurt because of improperly worn equipment, I would expect coaches to want the officials to enforce the equipment rules.

The motivation is, ultimately, greed. The players can run a tiny bit faster without their knees being encumbered by the binding action of the pants around the knees. If they can run faster, they can perform better, which, they hope, will translate into wins, which attract paying fans who also buy hats, shirts, food, etc. And that also attracts more lucrative NIL deals. And on and on. You get the picture.

[bama_stripes]

Nick Saban was asked about the knees covered/mouthpieces dangling issue several years ago.  His answer: “Sometimes you just have to pick your battles.”

I believe he meant that it was hard enough getting players to go to class, pass drug tests, keep curfew on the road, etc etc without worrying about “silly (stuff).”

[Grant - AR]

Nick Saban was asked about the knees covered/mouthpieces dangling issue several years ago.  His answer: “Sometimes you just have to pick your battles.”

I believe he meant that it was hard enough getting players to go to class, pass drug tests, keep curfew on the road, etc etc without worrying about “silly (stuff).”

Saban is a smart man.  I remember the first year that was a huge emphasis (2017, I think).  We sent players out on probably 10 of the first 25 plays of the game because of knee pads.  After we realized that neither team was going to do anything about it and didn't care that their players were missing snaps, we decided to start ignoring it. 

In my opinion, we shouldn't be the fashion police for uniforms.  I like the way the arena leagues used to rule on pads (maybe they still do, I don't know).  Their book said something like, "If pads are worn, they must be worn properly."  In other words, they didn't have to wear any pads if they didn't want to, but if they decided to wear them, they had to be right.  If the NCAA would do that, half of the players wouldn't have any knee pads and officials wouldn't have to worry with it anymore. 

[ncwingman]

Why is this not enforced in all the games i have watched this season?

This season? Glad you're finally paying attention.

A few years ago I remember there was a POE about knee pads. "If they're not worn properly, send 'em out until it's fixed." was the proclamation. First game of the season at my local college (where I was on the chain crew), about 10 players got sent out in the first three plays. Then... nothing.

Did the knee pads get fixed? Of course not. The officials were told to knock it off.

[John B]

Really appreciate this feedback.
I do have a followup question - how does your legal responsibility work in the States for Spirts Officials? We have a duty of care responsibility in relation to ensuring games, we officiate, are conducted according to the approved rules of the sport.
Example a player injured in a sport here (not American Football), by an illegal tackle. One of the respondents in the civil court case, was the Referee, who was required to answer questions about rules and enforcement, eg how he had been ensuring the rules were being correctly applied during the game. I wonder if a player suffering an injury to his knee, or severe concussion from a blow to the helmet from a bare knee, may be an outcome we may encounter.

[bctgp]

A little sarcasm or maybe not...

Lets just make all equipment optional except a legal jersey with numbers as we have today. Helmet optional, shoulder-pads optional, etc. All Coaches sign a waiver at beginning of each game that their players are equipped appropriately for safety etc.

Frankly, over time we are headed in that direction right, maybe not to the satirical extent I am saying but hey, who knows.

[peterparsons]

There's already a CFO coach's verification that the Head Coach or their designated representative signs. It's been around for 5 years. It says:

This is to certify that all of our student-athletes have been:
(a) Informed what equipment is mandatory by rule and what constitutes illegal equipment.
(b) Provided the equipment mandated by rule.
(c) Instructed to wear and how to wear mandatory equipment during the game.
(d) Instructed to notify the coaching staff when equipment becomes illegal through play during the game.

We've been doing something similar over here in the UK for longer, and it includes a few other items (such as concussion protocols) that we make the coaches responsible for.

[bossman72]

Saban is a smart man.  I remember the first year that was a huge emphasis (2017, I think).  We sent players out on probably 10 of the first 25 plays of the game because of knee pads.  After we realized that neither team was going to do anything about it and didn't care that their players were missing snaps, we decided to start ignoring it. 

In my opinion, we shouldn't be the fashion police for uniforms.  I like the way the arena leagues used to rule on pads (maybe they still do, I don't know).  Their book said something like, "If pads are worn, they must be worn properly."  In other words, they didn't have to wear any pads if they didn't want to, but if they decided to wear them, they had to be right.  If the NCAA would do that, half of the players wouldn't have any knee pads and officials wouldn't have to worry with it anymore. 

They had the rule right for a number of years when it was "recommended" that the pants cover the knees.
Then we let someone play in biker shorts on a primetime game so they flipped back to the old rule.

[oldtimerref]

Forget knee pads and hip pads after watching a number of college games this past weekend, so many players are wearing what appears to be Bermuda Shorts. I guess that I have been retired far to long.

[ilyazhito]

They had the rule right for a number of years when it was "recommended" that the pants cover the knees.
Then we let someone play in biker shorts on a primetime game so they flipped back to the old rule.

I agree that they should change the rule. If the rule says recommended, then the officials won't have anything to do with whether knee pads are worn and how they are worn.

[ElvisLives]

Forget knee pads and hip pads after watching a number of college games this past weekend, so many players are wearing what appears to be Bermuda Shorts. I guess that I have been retired far to long.

That's all part of the same phenomenon. Players think they can run/move better/faster if their knees/lower thighs are not encumbered by pants (even without knee pads). Coaches don't care, because, to them, a happy all-conference player is more important than player safety. Conference administrators don't care, because what brings more victories to their conferences also brings more sponsorships and contributions, as well as attracting more recruits. The NCAA doesn't care because winning teams attract TV networks, and their sponsors. As a result, there is no support from those in charge for officials to enforce these rules.

[MAFBRef]

BINGO!!!  It’s always about the money in the end. Everything else is publicity and establishing an alibi for when the inevitable tragic incident occurs.

[GoodScout]

NCAA has de facto determined that uniform rules don't have to be enforced.

Georgia, Florida's and Texas's high school associations have done the same thing.

Our state assignor has also told us to say something about it to the coach and then ignore it. Had one coach whose players WERE properly equipped ask me "Why do you ask me if my players are legally and properly equipped when you clearly don't give a [crap]?" I told him that was a great question, and he had to ask our assignor.