Deion Sanders made headlines this spring for saying that he wanted to schedule some joint scrimmages in the future so he could play different teams during the spring and preseason to really gauge where his team is off of that.
Turns out, Dabo Swinney, too, would be for that idea.
These joint scrimmages are done at all levels as all professional teams have preseasons and the NFL has joint practices and scrimmages in the fall that are good for both the fans and teams.
Even in college, hoops teams have been playing some preseason scrimmages that have caught the attention of many such as the Michigan State vs. Tennessee scrimmage for charity last year, and baseball does it, too. But for whatever reason, the NCAA is blocking joint scrimmages for football and it has coaches like Swinney and Sanders upset.
Swinney chimed in on this topic over the weekend, per 247Sports, and he’s 100 percent right.
“Y’all can probably rewind every spring practice for the past 12 years, and I think I’ve said that for years and years and years,” Swinney said after Clemson wrapped an intra-scrimmage of the spring. “I’ve said that forever. It’s never made any sense to me. I mean, from pee wee league to middle school to high school, we are the only level of football — to the NFL, that we don’t get to practice against anybody. We can’t scrimmage anybody. I’ve never understood that. … In fact, we’re the only sport in college that can’t do it. Baseball plays people, soccer plays people, basketball runs down and scrimmage Georgia. Who knows. I don’t know why we do half the stuff we do.””
Dabo Swinney, per 247Sports
Tigers fans would probably love to see this and I think it would be good for college football and it would bring in more eyeballs and more money during the spring. Imagine the TV ratings for a Clemson vs. Alabama spring scrimmage in Death Valley. It would be fantastic.
It feels like only a matter of time before the NCAA gives in and allows this for the better of the sport.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
