Every couple of years, college football players find a loophole in the rules that allows them to show a bit more personality. A few years ago, it was pulling the jerseys up and exposing the stomach. Before that, it was using mouthpieces and cleats that were vibrant and stuck out. While not against the rules then, the NCAA College Football Rules Committee shut down these trends very quickly and made rules to make the game more uniform (literally).
This year, the trend that is being shut down is the length of pants.
Additionally, another uniform rule is likely to happen. With the recent issues with sign stealing and the suspensions that have occurred following that, the NCAA College Football Rules Committee is seriously considering adding a technology that has been part of the NFL game for nearly 30 years.
Recent Trend in Pants
The recent trend that football players have decided to go with is having football pants go very short. In fact, this past season, players everywhere were seen wearing pants that did not cover the knees, which meant that the knees were not being covered and were exposed to potential injuries.
The trend went from leaving the bottom of the knees barely exposed to getting to the point of now riding the way of the leg. The topic has sparked interest on many college football message boards, noticing that players stand out with this new trend.
This goes against two things that the Rules Committee doesn’t like: safety and individuality.
Obviously, any kneecap not being covered is a safety hazard that college football wants to eliminate. As far as the individualism goes, the rules committee has shown time and time again that they are against any trend that makes a player stick out.
Helmet Communications at the College Football Level
The other big rule that is being discussed is helmet communication between a coach and the quarterback. After the Michigan sign-stealing allegations that occurred this past season and the mess that caused around college football, the demand to allow helmet communication has become a near necessity.
Michigan and Connor Stallions were the first ones caught, but reports have said that dozens of teams have been involved in sign stealing. If the Michigan allegations weren’t enough to really get the ball rolling on this, the allegations of dozens of teams being involved were the nail in the coffin.
Conclusion
Both of these rule changes are very likely to happen. It’s hard to imagine the NCAA College Football Rules Committee wanting to allow the pants to remain short, putting players at a higher injury risk and giving them to much individuality. The helmet communications rule should have happened years ago but was constantly put on the back burner to bigger and more pressing rule changes. That won’t happen again.
Other possible rules include kickoff rules, a two-minute warning, and review rules.