This is an opinion column.
My neck hurts.
And my head aches.
This is whiplash, not from the dump truck that totaled my car in October, but another college football off-season in the spin cycle.
Nothing’s sacred, not even the 1-year-old college football playoff format.
But the man is coming for something even more holy than the Big 12’s automatic bye into the quarterfinal.
Spring football games, meet the dodo bird.
The annual rite of April is going the way of lawn darts and “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” as a few major college football schools are opting out of public scrimmages.
Texas axed theirs last week.
So did Nebraska. And USC. And Ohio State. And Missouri.
Florida State, too. They’ll have to wait for the fall to lose again.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer on Tuesday told On3 they would be moving away from a traditional scrimmage with a “modified” format.
“A lot of times here, the A-Day Game, it’s been more of a practice, and there’s been some scrimmaging, not necessarily much of a game,” DeBoer told On3.
Alabama’s A-Day is set for April 12, as is Auburn’s in Jordan-Hare Stadium. There’s no word if any changes are planned for the Tigers.
NC State became the latest to slam the gate shut in a Tuesday announcement by coach Dave Doeren. They have two new coordinators after and underachieving 2024 season (6-7) so Doeren will keep outside eyes off the final scrimmage of the spring “for obvious reasons.”
“You don’t want your stuff out there if it doesn’t have to be,” he told reporters in Raleigh on Tuesday.
The others had various reasons for ending what’s been a springtime ritual that, for a time, rose into big business but has since fallen victim to progress.
There was a time, like a decade ago, when ESPN’s programming for a few spring Saturdays was wall-to-wall spring football.
It was a teaser for what was to come in a few months, a preview of the young talent and a chance to enjoy a nice April afternoon on campus.
Among Nick Saban’s greatest memories at Alabama was the site of a completely packed Bryant-Denny Stadium at his first A-Day in 2007. He talks about that environment and the catalyst it became for a program desperate to regain the relevance it so obviously achieved.
It was an arms race to see who could pack the most into spring games with Ohio State and Nebraska among the annual contenders.
Now, the Huskers and Buckeyes are bowing out.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said he didn’t want competing schools to watch the team that went 7-6 every week on TV play a spring game because they might steal his players.
“I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world,” Rhule said earlier this month in Lincoln, “and have people watch our guys and say, ‘He looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.’”
Last year, the most loyal fans in college football sent 60,452 representatives to Memorial Stadium for its spring game.
Alabama announced a crowd of 72,358 witnessed Kalen DeBoer’s first A-Day game. ESPN televised it live as one of the few not relegated to the online-only platforms.
Here’s the thing about these spring games: They’re watered down versions of real scrimmages. They’re an opportunity to throw a bone to fans who are eager to see some pads pop before August.
In most places, they’re free to attend. At most, it’s a few bucks to cross the threshold and sit in seats that would cost you a mortgage payment for a conference game.
Are they essential?
No, but it’s a nice little reminder the sport we love can dip out of hibernation for an affordable afternoon with the folks being nickel and dimed for another donation every other day of the year.
Schools famously dialed back the full packages of plays they’d used in the other closed scrimmages because they didn’t need an eagle-eye analyst from a rival to crack a code and win next November’s Thanksgiving week game.
NC State could still do that if they wanted.
Rhule’s worried about rivals purging Nebraska players?
Missouri has the excuse of stadium construction, while Texas and Ohio State had concerns about the calendar, given their deep playoff runs.
Cool.
Less football.
Less free football when even your egg dealer is jacking prices.
Another tradition fading in the name of … progress?
My neck hurts.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
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