CHICAGO - It’s no secret that in recent months, player safety has been a topic of discussion in every level of football and every conference of college football.
The Big Ten is no exception. Player safety was a bigger buzz at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago than ever before.
With the Ivy League having moved its kickoffs to the 40-yard line and touchbacks to the 20-yard line, the conference leads efforts in eliminating the kickoff, a play that is responsible for many injuries — some of the most vicious injuries — in football. These efforts didn’t go unrecognized Monday and Tuesday.
While Minnesota Coach Tracy Claeys stood in front of the media, he was asked about his stance on eliminating kickoffs from football.
“We haven't talked about it as Big Ten coaches,” Claeys said. “My own personal belief is if that play obviously is causing that many injuries, and it's that obvious from the data, then we need to replace it. Find a good way to replace it and get it out of the game.”
While coaches like Claeys are speaking out against plays as significant as the kickoff, the Big Ten continues to make rule changes away from the kickoff, including banning blocks below the waist and expanding targeting penalties on defenseless players.
Bill Carollo, Big Ten Director of Officiating, detailed six new rule changes that apply to player safety — half of the conference’s 12 rule changes this offseason.
Now the ball must be in the tackle box for a blocker to hit below the waist, and the blocker must also be engaged with the defender beforehand. While tripping the ball carrier has always been legal, tripping has been deemed illegal in every facet, Carollo said, because too many players are suffering leg injuries when tripped.
The Big Ten is expanding its targeting penalty to more than just a few qualifications for hits on defenseless players — such as helmet-to-helmet contact or hitting with the crown of the helmet. Carollo said that the call will become more of a judgment call for officials, deciding whether the ball carrier was defenseless or not. Hits on sliding ball carriers are now lumped into targeting penalties as well.
IU coach Kevin Wilson said that the Hoosiers are incorporating several tactics to maintaining player safety during summer practices, including hog tackling in order to prevent concussions and staying off the ground to prevent ankle and leg injuries.
“Player safety is at an all-time high and very well-known and documented,” Wilson said. “Every day we have the toughest job, we have to take care of the greatest thing in the world: someone’s child.”
For junior linebacker Marcus Oliver, the rules don’t affect his playing style, he said. While targeting is expanding, the linebacker said he never tries to take shots on defenseless players, and maybe for players that do, the rule change can calm them down.
“They have to do what they have to do to protect players," Oliver said.
