The NCAA football rules committee tabled a proposal Wednesday that would have penalized offenses for snapping the ball before 10 seconds had run off the 40-second play clock, The Associated Press reported.
After a conference call, the panel agreed not to send the so-called 10-second rule to the playing rules oversight panel for approval Thursday, according to a person with knowledge of the decision who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made. ESPN and USA Today first reported the proposal had been shelved.
The proposed change, touted as a move to protect players by slowing down the fast-break offenses so prevalent now in college football, infuriated many coaches. Auburn's Gus Malzahn, Arizona's Rich Rodriguez and Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury were among the critics who said there was no proof that up-tempo offenses increased the risk of injuries.
Rodriguez and Arizona went to so far as to make a video spoof of the movie "Speed" to get the point across.
"Let's not distort the facts because of your personal agenda," Rodriguez says in the YouTube clip.
The rule would have gone into effect next season had it been approved. Teams would have been given a 5-yard penalty for snapping the ball too quickly.
Arkansas coach Bret Bielema and Alabama's Nick Saban, who are not members of the rules committee, pushed for changes to control the ever-quickening pace of play. Both run slower-paced, pro-style offenses. The proposal was passed by the rules committee on Feb. 12.
What followed was three weeks of heated debate among fans and coaches about the evolution of football. An ESPN survey of the 128 FBS coaches published last week found only 25 supported the proposal and 93 were opposed.
The proposal caught many coaches by surprise because this is a non-change year for NCAA rules. Exceptions, though, could be made for rules related to player safety. Supporters — such as Saban — said they were concerned about the higher number of plays in games and that fatigued defensive players could not be taken off the field when offenses were rushing to the line of scrimmage right after the ball was spotted by officials.
"I didn't offer any solutions to the problems," Saban said Wednesday before the proposal was tabled. "I just not only gave my opinion, but presented a lot statistical data that would support the fact that pace of play is creating a lot longer games and a lot more plays in games."
"Now, I know a lot of you say there's no statistical information that says if you play 88 plays in the game you have a better chance to get hurt if you play 65 plays in a game. Over 12 games that's 250 (additional) plays, approximately. That's four games more that you are playing."
SABAN COMPARES TEMPO TO CIGARETTES
First Bret Bielema spouted off about the 10-second rule, referencing the death of Cal player Ted Agu.
Now, the other coach linked to the development of the proposed rule has said something that is turning heads.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said last week that he wasn’t behind the development of the 10-second rule proposal. He told ESPN.com this week that doesn’t “care about getting blamed for this. That’s part of it.”
Saban explained further.
“The fastball guys (up-tempo coaches) say there’s no data out there, and I guess you have to use some logic. What’s the logic? If you smoke one cigarette, do you have the same chances of getting cancer if you smoke 20? I guess there’s no study that specifically says that. But logically, we would say, ‘Yeah, there probably is.’ ”
Last month, ESPN.com conducted a poll of the 128 FBS coaches and only 25 favored the proposed rule that would not allow the offense to snap the ball before at least 10 seconds expired off the play clock.
Several coaches have spoken out against the proposed rule — which will no longer be voted on Thursday by the playing rules oversight panel — including Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin.
Rodriguez went as far as making a parody video to express his dislike of the rule.
Still, Saban insists that the proposal and reasoning behind it need to be studied more.
“Our game’s getting to where it’s not about blocking and tackling,” Saban told ESPN.com. “It’s about how fast can we go so they can’t get lined up. Is that what we want the game to be?
“But let’s not forget the issue here. The issue I’m arguing for is the increased number of exposures, the player safety issue. I don’t see how logically it can’t be, but we should at least do a study to find out. I guess the question is: How do we manage it in the meantime? Do we let them keep going, or do we slow them down?”
VANDY D-LINE COACH OUSTED
Vavae Tata will not be a position coach at Vanderbilt after pleading guilty to a charge of drunken driving in an agreement dismissing a count of leaving the scene of an accident.
Vanderbilt spokesman Rod Williamson said Wednesday hours after Tata's plea agreement that coach Derek Mason will be filling out his staff within the week and had been waiting for Tata's case to be decided in court to make a move replacing the defensive line coach.
Mason suspended Tata on Feb. 18, two days after the assistant coach's arrest. Hired Jan. 24, Tata had followed Mason to Vanderbilt from Stanford where he had been a defensive assistant with Mason working as defensive coordinator the past couple years.
The agreement includes Tata losing his license for a year and serving 48 hours in jail with the rest of the 11-month, 29-day sentence suspended.
His attorney Roger May told The Tennessean that Tata was very embarrassed and wanted to apologize to Vanderbilt.
Police said Tata, 37, recorded a 0.18 percent blood alcohol content on a Breathalyzer test, above the state limit of 0.08 when police found him a few blocks away from a vehicle that had crashed into two parked vehicles.
SMU RB COACH HIRED
Former UCLA running backs coach Steve Broussard has been hired for the same position at SMU.
Broussard was a running back for the Atlanta Falcons when SMU coach June Jones was on the staff there in the 1990s. He played nine seasons in the NFL.
The former Washington State running back spent the past two seasons with the Bruins after previous stints as an assistant at Arizona State, Portland State and his alma mater.
While at UCLA, Broussard's recruiting responsibilities included Texas. He was also the recruiting coordinator with the Sun Devils.
Contributors: Ken Bradley, The Associated Press