ajc.com

Quote:Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is one of college football’s biggest advocates for the NCAA permitting a spring scrimmage against another team.

We’ve always endorsed the idea for three reasons: It would further enhance the enormous popularity of college football, it would give players and fans something to look forward to during the middle of the offseason, and most importantly it would generate much-needed revenue for college athletic departments struggling in the tough economy. Or proceeds could be donated to charity.

Quote:“I don’t know if it will ever happen but it’s fun to think about,” Swinney told the AJC.

It’s an idea that has been kicked around before. Here are the basics of Dabo’s proposal: College football teams have the option of a spring game against themselves or another team. If you play another team, it must be both an out-of-conference team but also one within a reasonable driving distance. The coaches will agree upon the rules of the scrimmage in advance.

“Personally, I think it would be a good thing for college football to do,” Swinney said. “College football takes in a lot of money. I think it would be an opportunity to give something back to your school or a charity.

“The other side of it is this: We’re already doing it in basketball. Our basketball teams play other teams but it’s closed, so nobody knows about it. For example, Clemson plays Georgia in basketball every year. But it’s a closed scrimmage. You know, nobody can be in there except the two teams. If they didn’t want to do any type of public thing, I wouldn’t have a problem with having a closed football scrimmage where nobody could be there but the staffs of both teams.”

Quote:“The good thing about doing something like this is that in the spring time, you don’t have your whole team there. Like last spring, for example, we were missing 31 guys for spring ball. So we were very, very thin. This year, we have more bodies on hand. But still, every time you practice against each other in a scrimmage, you’re 100-percent invested with your personnel, as opposed to if you go and scrimmage somebody else. You’re scrimmaging their defense, while your defense is on the sidelines. When your offense is out there, your defense is on the sidelines. You’re not 100-percent vested with what’s going on. I just think there’s something good with that.

“Plus I think a scrimmage would be a great way to further teach our guys and prepare them for the season … to be able to implement your schemes against another opponent, and it could be against anybody. Obviously, I don’t think you should do it against a team in your conference. But anybody else … maybe the NCAA could put stipulations like it’s got to be a team within a 100 or 200 miles or something like that. Most everybody could find somebody to scrimmage against.

“I think it would be fun. I think the players would enjoy it. I think the fans would enjoy it. But that’s just one guy’s opinion.”

Quote:Clemson has its annual spring game vs. Clemson on April 14, and expects a crowd of more than 30,000 fans. What if that scrimmage was against the SEC East champions located only 75 miles away? “If it was Georgia, we’d certainly fill it up,” Swinney said. “It would be like that for Clemson and a Georgia, or whomever it may be, in a scrimmage situation. It would probably be like that at many other spring scrimmages between teams in the Southeast region.”

What are the negatives? We can’t think of many. Some may say injuries. But this is college football, not rec football. If you ever go to a spring game (remember to drink a lot of caffeine to keep yourself awake), you will notice that teammates go just as hard against each other as they do against opponents during the regular season. They’re battling for jobs, and every practice snap is an audition for somebody.

Quote:We asked some other coaches what they thought about the idea:

North Carolina’s Larry Fedora: “I think that would be great. I think you would get a pretty good idea on where your team is at that time. Putting on spring games against yourself is difficult just because of the amount of kids you have on scholarship that time of year … with your seniors gone and your freshmen not being there yet … plus you have other players out for the spring with injuries. All of that really makes it difficult to do an intra-squad scrimmage. So I think you could benefit from something like a scrimmage opponent in a lot of ways.” AJC Dream Matchup: North Carolina vs. South Carolina

Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson: “Off the cuff, it sounds like it might be a good idea but I really haven’t thought much about it … It can get old practicing against yourself. Anytime you can play or scrimmage against somebody else, it would be good. The NFL certainly does it in training camp. Basketball plays an exhibition before their season.”

Quote:Virginia’s Mike London: “I know Dabo personally. It’s an innovative idea, particularly when you look at conference realignment and television money. Playing against another team than yourself in the spring may bring in revenue to go toward other sports, non-scholarship sports, or other entities around the university … I imagine there would be some support for that idea if people really started talking seriously about it.” AJC Dream Matchup: Virginia vs. West Virginia

Quote:What would have to happen next for spring scrimmages to become a reality? “Any NCAA member school or conference can propose a rule change or update,” according to NCAA spokesperson Christopher Radford, who also provided us with a long list of bylaws that prevent it from happening right now.

Perhaps this is where we can get rid of the stupid 9th conference games. Play it in the spring where it wouldn't matter if UNC and their 13 fans showed up. That way we could keep the series with UGA, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, etc. instead of dropping it for a conference game that nobody, and I mean NOBODY wants to see.

I'd be in favor of a spring scrimmage vs. another team, but would much prefer if the fans could go like the spring game instead of a closed practice.

Would it be a glorified scrimmage, a hybrid scrimmage/game or a full fledged game?

Sounds like an idea with some merit. I would want it to be open to the public and the money go back into the athletic dept. budget. Also, prohibit it from being an in-conference game, but lose the restriction about the schools being within driving distance.

If it would be something like a preseason NFL game, then I'd be all for it. Fans get to see the starters for a bit, and what the backups are capable of.

I think you'd see games against FCS teams, though. That way the game is always at the big boys palace, and they collect the money.

everyone would want a home game so they'd have to do two of them

(03-28-2012 03:45 PM)catdaddy_2402 Wrote:  ajc.com

Quote:Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is one of college football’s biggest advocates for the NCAA permitting a spring scrimmage against another team.

We’ve always endorsed the idea for three reasons: It would further enhance the enormous popularity of college football, it would give players and fans something to look forward to during the middle of the offseason, and most importantly it would generate much-needed revenue for college athletic departments struggling in the tough economy. Or proceeds could be donated to charity.

Quote:“I don’t know if it will ever happen but it’s fun to think about,” Swinney told the AJC.

It’s an idea that has been kicked around before. Here are the basics of Dabo’s proposal: College football teams have the option of a spring game against themselves or another team. If you play another team, it must be both an out-of-conference team but also one within a reasonable driving distance. The coaches will agree upon the rules of the scrimmage in advance.

“Personally, I think it would be a good thing for college football to do,” Swinney said. “College football takes in a lot of money. I think it would be an opportunity to give something back to your school or a charity.

“The other side of it is this: We’re already doing it in basketball. Our basketball teams play other teams but it’s closed, so nobody knows about it. For example, Clemson plays Georgia in basketball every year. But it’s a closed scrimmage. You know, nobody can be in there except the two teams. If they didn’t want to do any type of public thing, I wouldn’t have a problem with having a closed football scrimmage where nobody could be there but the staffs of both teams.”

Quote:“The good thing about doing something like this is that in the spring time, you don’t have your whole team there. Like last spring, for example, we were missing 31 guys for spring ball. So we were very, very thin. This year, we have more bodies on hand. But still, every time you practice against each other in a scrimmage, you’re 100-percent invested with your personnel, as opposed to if you go and scrimmage somebody else. You’re scrimmaging their defense, while your defense is on the sidelines. When your offense is out there, your defense is on the sidelines. You’re not 100-percent vested with what’s going on. I just think there’s something good with that.

“Plus I think a scrimmage would be a great way to further teach our guys and prepare them for the season … to be able to implement your schemes against another opponent, and it could be against anybody. Obviously, I don’t think you should do it against a team in your conference. But anybody else … maybe the NCAA could put stipulations like it’s got to be a team within a 100 or 200 miles or something like that. Most everybody could find somebody to scrimmage against.

“I think it would be fun. I think the players would enjoy it. I think the fans would enjoy it. But that’s just one guy’s opinion.”

Quote:Clemson has its annual spring game vs. Clemson on April 14, and expects a crowd of more than 30,000 fans. What if that scrimmage was against the SEC East champions located only 75 miles away? “If it was Georgia, we’d certainly fill it up,” Swinney said. “It would be like that for Clemson and a Georgia, or whomever it may be, in a scrimmage situation. It would probably be like that at many other spring scrimmages between teams in the Southeast region.”

What are the negatives? We can’t think of many. Some may say injuries. But this is college football, not rec football. If you ever go to a spring game (remember to drink a lot of caffeine to keep yourself awake), you will notice that teammates go just as hard against each other as they do against opponents during the regular season. They’re battling for jobs, and every practice snap is an audition for somebody.

Quote:We asked some other coaches what they thought about the idea:

North Carolina’s Larry Fedora: “I think that would be great. I think you would get a pretty good idea on where your team is at that time. Putting on spring games against yourself is difficult just because of the amount of kids you have on scholarship that time of year … with your seniors gone and your freshmen not being there yet … plus you have other players out for the spring with injuries. All of that really makes it difficult to do an intra-squad scrimmage. So I think you could benefit from something like a scrimmage opponent in a lot of ways.” AJC Dream Matchup: North Carolina vs. South Carolina

Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson: “Off the cuff, it sounds like it might be a good idea but I really haven’t thought much about it … It can get old practicing against yourself. Anytime you can play or scrimmage against somebody else, it would be good. The NFL certainly does it in training camp. Basketball plays an exhibition before their season.”

Quote:Virginia’s Mike London: “I know Dabo personally. It’s an innovative idea, particularly when you look at conference realignment and television money. Playing against another team than yourself in the spring may bring in revenue to go toward other sports, non-scholarship sports, or other entities around the university … I imagine there would be some support for that idea if people really started talking seriously about it.” AJC Dream Matchup: Virginia vs. West Virginia

Quote:What would have to happen next for spring scrimmages to become a reality? “Any NCAA member school or conference can propose a rule change or update,” according to NCAA spokesperson Christopher Radford, who also provided us with a long list of bylaws that prevent it from happening right now.

Perhaps this is where we can get rid of the stupid 9th conference games. Play it in the spring where it wouldn't matter if UNC and their 13 fans showed up. That way we could keep the series with UGA, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, etc. instead of dropping it for a conference game that nobody, and I mean NOBODY wants to see.

That 9th conference game is here to stay, and it really ought to go to 10 conference games.
If you don't want to play the teams in your league.....find another league......please!

Dabo has an excellent proposal here, as evidenced by all the major media coverage.

* High Schools already do this
* NFL already does this (4 pre-season games!)
* College needs a pre-season game, too! (or as suggested above, 2 games so BCS teams can do home/away).

A portion (or all) of the money should go to local high school football. That might make up for the encroachment upon Friday nights somewhat.