College football’s spring preseason calendar could get a huge makeover.
Some of the sport’s coaches were presented with a proposal to overhaul the preseason schedule at the ACC spring meetings and it appears to be getting support, according to Yahoo Sports.
Notably, the proposal includes a plan to create a single transfer portal window to be opened in either January, March, or April, instead of the current two transfer windows, the first in December, and the second in April.
Support has been building among coaches to ditch one of the transfer periods for some time, given the enormous pressure some schools are under, especially during the first winter window.
Those hectic few days in December come at an already-crowded time in college football’s schedule, loaded with bowl games, playoff games, and the early recruiting signing period, when most high school prospects now make their commitments.
Penn State head coach James Franklin recently endorsed the idea of having one transfer portal window that opens up after spring football practice.
“That would allow everybody to get through their season,” he said.
“It’ll allow you to have one academic calendar. And then there’s been some talk about maybe moving spring football more into the summer, like [the] OTA model.”
That OTA model could become a reality, too, according to this report.
The proposal heard at the ACC meetings also includes adding six NFL-style organized team activities that would take place in the spring or early summer and with padless practices as late as June.
The plan would give teams 21 total on-field practices in the spring and early summer, including the traditional 15 spring practices, but schools would have the option of using those 21 days either in the spring or at the start of summer.
Schools may also have the option to spread the practices over two different five-week periods between February and April and late May into June.
Ideas around changing the spring college football calendar come against the context of the pending House vs. NCAA case, with decision makers reluctant to institute any major changes until after the $2.8 billion settlement is made final.
Judge Claudia Wilken set a deadline for Friday in the case before she decides whether to give her final approval, which could come next week.
The settlement will allow schools to directly share money with players for the first time in history, paying as much as $20.5 million to athletes in all sports, but football players are expected to receive the bulk of that amount.
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