University of North Carolina Athletics
Commissioner's Football Forum Highlights
July 26, 2009 | Football
July 26, 2009
Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford held a football forum this afternoon as part of the ACC Football Kickoff. A lot of the questions directed at Swofford's tenure as BCS coordinator, but he did address some issues that are conference-specific.
•Swofford said that any ACC television network, even in partnership with the Big 12 or Pac 10, is "merely a concept at this point." The conference's current rights holders (ESPN, Raycom) have been at the center of most discussions. If an agreement looks unlikely with them, then the conversations about the creation of a conference network would become more serious.
•The conference is in favor of an early signing period for football (as there is in basketball), but to this point has been unable to garner more support from other conferences. The move would allow coaches to spend more time on campus rather than `playing defense' on a recruit that has verbally committed to a school yet cannot fax a letter of intent until February of his senior year.
Doug Rhoads, the ACC's the coordinator of football officials, discussed a few minor rule changes as part of the forum. The NCAA has determined that, except in rare cases, rule changes can only be made every two seasons. The upcoming season is the first of that cycle and so changes cannot be made until the end of the 2010 season.
•If there is sufficient contrast in jersey colors, both teams can wear their dark uniforms. Previously, one team had to wear white. Rhoads said the old tradition had been in place to help viewers watching black-and-white televisions identify the teams. This change was spurred by the UCLA/USC game last season, in which UCLA wore their powder blue home jerseys at USC (clad in their Spartan cardinal). In the past, a team not wearing a proper uniform was penalized 15 yards at the beginning of each half.
•Officials now have a defined `tackle box,' which is five yards on either side of the center. In the past, officials had to use their best judgment as to whether a player was `between the tackles.' This is primarily to help with intentional grounding calls. "I can definitely see why they'd change a rule like that. It'll probably be a lot more enforced in the beginning of the season, so I'll just have to get used to it and learn from it," North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates said. In addition, horse-collar tackles are allowed inside the tackle box, and a punter is treated as a punter there. If a punter goes outside the tackle box, he is not considered a `kicker,' and is not protected by `roughing into' or `running into the kicker.'
•The chinstrap is now considered part of the facemask as it pertains to a 15-yard penalty.
•Some plays that previously had been considered `not reviewable' now may be subject to review IF there is an immediate recovery. Those are forward passes when there is a question about the thrower's arm moving forward (the infamous `tuck rule') and passes that may appear to be laterals. If a defender makes an immediate recovery, the play may be reviewed, even if the pass has been ruled incomplete on the field.
