BIRMINGHAM, Ala. − Changes are coming to the college football rulebook in 2025.
In April, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a set of rules regarding injury timeouts and other aspects of game play. On Monday, May 12, while speaking at the Associated Press Sports Editors meeting at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in Birmingham, John McDaid, the SEC Coordinator of Football Officials, broke down what those rule changes would look like specifically for Alabama football and the rest of the conference this fall.
In 2025, if an official timeout for injury is made after the ball is down and all officials are in position for an upcoming play, the team with the injured player will be changed a timeout or, if the team no longer has a timeout, a delay of game penalty. During the dead ball period caused by the timeout or delay of game penalty, a team is permitted to substitute. A team cannot choose between a timeout or a delay of game penalty, McDaid clarified.
This rule is to combat strategies of football players forcing injury timeouts to stop another team’s momentum or to avoid using a timeout. The officials, McDaid said, will not judge the severity of the injury that leads to the timeout or the delay of game penalty, saying “we’re not trained medical professionals.”
“It’s a very hard problem to solve because it has to do with ethics,” McDaid said. “It’s an ethics issue. And when you think about a body of playing rules, you are not thinking about the officials are on the field policing ethics.”
McDaid said all 16 SEC teams “recognize that it is something that is a black mark on the game and needs to be addressed” when it comes to the fake injuries and how they have been used.
What’s new about NCAA timeouts in overtime games?
In 2025, a game that reached a third overtime or longer will have much fewer time stoppages as normal.
Teams, starting with the third overtime period, will have one timeout each for the rest of the game instead of one timeout for each overtime period.
John McDaid explains new NCAA replay language
In 2025, college football fans will no longer hear if a replay call is “confirmed” or if it “stands.”
Next season, referees will make a judgement of either “overturned” or “upheld” when facing replay scenarios.
“As long as you convince yourself that there is not enough video evidence to overturn it, it’s almost academic whether we confirm it or it stands,” McDaid said.
Other NCAA football rule changes: What it means for SEC
McDaid also addressed changes to punt formations where no offensive player can be in direct line of the snap to the kicker, making it more “obvious” that a kick will be made. And on kickoff returns, the “T” signal will now be valid to cancel a return attempt.
In 2025, SEC defenses will not be able to simulate action before the snap, saying the “criteria” and “frame of judgement” will be judged “tighter,” and that a hand-clap cadence is solely reserved for offenses, with the words “shift” or “move” will be only for defenses.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
