FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema was a member of the 12-man committee that approved a new rule that is sparking plenty of debate as college football teams prepare to start practice for the 2013 season.
A player now can be ejected from the game if an official penalizes him for targeting a defenseless opponent with a hit above the shoulders.
If the ejection occurs in the first half, the player must miss the rest of the game. If it occurs in the second half, he also has to miss the first half of his team’s next game.
Steve Shaw, the SEC’s coordinator of officials, called it “probably the most significant rule change” in his 24 years as a game official or administrator.
“Playing time is a motivator to our players, and we think this will have a pretty significant impact,” Shaw said. “The rules committee really believes this will make a difference.”
The ejection was added to what previously was only a 15-yard penalty in a measure approved Feb. 13, 2013, by the NCAA Football Rules Committee. Bielema is among six coaches on the committee and one of just two Football Bowl Subdivision coaches, along with Air Force’s Troy Calhoun.
“I think it’s a good rule for player safety,” said Bielema, whose committee term expires in September. “I think that’s the driving force.”
Bielema said the committee took into account “some of the catastrophic hits” that may cause serious injuries.
“I think the more player education that we can have to eliminate those type of plays, the better off all of us will be,” he said.
While coaches and administrators can agree on supporting player safety, having a judgment call by an official possibly result in a player’s ejection is drawing mixed reviews.
“With all due respect to the officials, you’ve got old guys with bifocals on trying to identify in a split-second who lowered their head first,” Washington State Coach Mike Leach said at Pacific-12 Conference media days.
To help be sure a player ejection is warranted, the rules committee is allowing the replay official to review the call. If the replay official decides the on-field call was incorrect, he can overrule it and have the ejected player reinstated to the game, though the 15-yard penalty will stand.
Bielema said there was “a lot of back-and-forth discussion” about the targeting rule during the committee’s meetings and that he lobbied on behalf of coaches across the country for the replay component.
“One of the overriding things that our coaches asked me to make sure of was that there was a check-and-balance, so I thought it was paramount to be able to go to the replay booth before [an ejection] became official,” he said. “I think that part will hopefully deter any potentially bad situations, but a lot of those hits are boom-boom.”
A tackle by South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney against Michigan running back Vincent Smith in last season’s Outback Bowl is being used as an example of how the targeting rule can be confusing.
Bielema said rules committee members who watched tape of Clowney’s tackle - in which he hit Smith in the chest, knocked off his helmet, forced a fumble and recovered the ball - agreed that it was a clean play. But Doug Rhoads, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s coordinator of officials, said at ACC media days he would have penalized Clowney for targeting.
South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier said SEC coaches have been assured by Shaw that Clowney’s play was clean because he hit Smith in the chest, not the head.
“The rule is good if they’re talking about a guy spearing or using the crown of his helmet to hit another guy above the shoulder pads in the head,” Spurrier told South Carolina media during a recent golf tournament. “If he’s doing that on purpose, he deserves to get thrown out of the game.”
Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini spoke in support of Clowney at Big Ten media days.
“If they’re going to throw people out for the Clowney hit, we should find another sport,” Pelini said. “I understand where it’s coming from. It’s about the safety of players, and we’re all for that.
“We just have to make sure we’re not messing with the integrity of the game or the sport and how it’s supposed to be played.”
Bielema said the players most at risk for being penalized for targeting probably are defensive backs when they’re trying to make a play on the ball.
“Maybe the ball is under thrown, all of a sudden they know they can’t go for the ball, they’ve got to go for the player,” Bielema said. “There’s just the potential for a lot of room for gray, and hopefully we’ll clean it up.”
Not all players are happy about it based on comments at SEC media days.
“They’re basically making us play flag football,” Florida defensive tackle Dominique Easley said. “It’s hard. You can’t really control where you want to hit.”
After Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray threw an interception against Alabama last season in the SEC Championship Game, he took a hit to head from Crimson Tide defensive lineman Quinton Dial, a play which now would result in an ejection.
“It’s nerve-wracking. Every time you throw an interception your head has to be on a swivel,” Murray said. “It’s every defender’s job to go after you. They don’t care if you’re 20 yards, 30 yards, 50 yards away from the ball. Knock the quarterback out.
“It’s stressful, and I don’t think that’s what the game is meant for. You’re trying to block someone and be able to make a lane for your guy to run. You’re not trying to take someone’s head off, especially if they’re not even near the play.”
Arkansas defensive coordinator Chris Ash said the Razorbacks coaches aren’t going to change how they teach tackling.
“We’re teaching our guys to tackle in a safe manner,” Ash said. “We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Bielema said the Razorbacks will watch a video presentation about the targeting rule early in fall camp, and SEC officials will be brought in to talk to the players.
Arkansas’ cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson said it’s a fine line between coaching players to tackle properly but also letting them be aggressive.
“You have to let them play,” Johnson said. “It’s like telling a guy, ‘Hey, you have a sore hamstring. Go about 50 percent.’ Well, if he goes 50 percent he’s going to get hurt. If you go out there and you think about not hitting a guy, you’re the one that’s going to get hit.
“We still have to just play the game like it’s supposed to be played. We are on defense. So when the ball is in the air we’re going to go for it. When a guy has the ball, we’re still going to go for it and we’re going to go through him. We just have to make sure we do it legally.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 08/01/2013