College football appears to be heading in the direction of yet another major change.
Over the past couple of weeks, a number of top universities have proclaimed that they will no longer be holding their annual spring game. While some schools say that they will still have a “showcase”, others have decided to abolish the tradition altogether.
It’s an interesting trend that seems to be leaving its mark across the nation. It feels as if every day a new university is declaring that they too will be forgoing the spring game.
The question must be asked: why is this happening?
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Why Are College Football Spring Games Being Cancelled?
Let’s take a closer look at the reasoning behind the disappearance of the college football spring game, a yearly staple for nearly every major program across the country.
Playoff Expansion
When the College Football Playoff was modified from four teams to twelve, there were bound to be substantial consequences for teams who made it far in the tournament.
Ohio State, who won the title after four rounds of games, had to play more football than almost every other program.
At an Athletics Committee meeting, head coach Ryan Day voiced his opinion on how the influx of games would affect next season: “When you look at the NFL model and they’re playing the number of games that they play in the NFL, we just played 16 games, so to think that we can continue with the same spring game or spring practice model, I think is asking for trouble, because of the amount of games now.”
Simply put, college kids are rightfully exhausted after abnormally long seasons. To expect teams that made deep playoff runs to produce a meaningful spring game just two months later is insanity.
Poachers in the Bushes
The University of Nebraska was one of the first schools to announce that they would be canceling their spring game.
Head coach Matt Rhule cited a unique reason for their decision: “The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore. It’s just an absolutely free, open
common market. I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world and have people watch our guys and say, ‘He looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.’”
Rhule makes a fair point. The Cornhuskers own one of the largest fan bases in America, meaning that their spring game is always nationally televised. Why risk exposing his hand and allow outsiders to take their pick at his squad?
Rhule was not the only one to voice this sentiment. At his national signing day conference, University of Florida head coach Billy Napier stated, “I’m either going to have coaches tampering with my players, or I’m going to have a fan base that’s pissed off at not having a spring game.”
Even with the Gators pledging their allegiance to the event, Napier acknowledged the issue at hand regarding illegal communications.
Both of the reasons mentioned don’t even allude to the fact that the spring game counts as one of the fifteen practices that teams are allowed to hold in the spring period. Some schools would understandably choose to have that valuable training rather than put on a glorified scrimmage.
No matter how you spin it, one thing is clear: in the new age of college football, the spring game will soon be a thing of the past.
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