Spring football, as you know it, may soon cease to exist. College football is in a transformative moment, and spring football may soon go the way of the Dodo bird. <\/p>\n
Ask somebody who played for Mark Stoops or Jerry Claiborne about spring football, and they\u2019ll tell you the same thing: \u201cIt sucks.\u201d Even as the physicality waned over the years, it\u2019s not fun to spend five to six weeks on the practice field and hit the same people over and over again, without a real football game to prepare for. <\/p>\n
Keeping players engaged for a lengthy period of time is challenging. That\u2019s why Will Stein held a 7-on-7 game<\/a> during the final week of his first spring practice. Coaches must be creative to get the most out of their players during spring football. <\/p>\n There\u2019s also a balancing act involved. \u201cYou get better at football by playing football,\u201d is a line Stein liked to use, but you can\u2019t get better at football if your best players are injured. Threading the physicality needle in spring football is imperative. It\u2019s something South Carolina has struggled with over the years. The Gamecocks lost a few offensive linemen in a previous spring game under Shane Beamer, and this spring, Jaccarius Peak<\/a>, the top-ranked offensive tackle in the transfer portal, suffered a knee injury during a camaraderie-building basketball tournament. <\/p>\n To put it simply, spring football is a necessary evil. College football coaches are asking the question, \u201cDoes it have to be?\u201d <\/p>\n There isn\u2019t spring football in the NFL. Why do they need to have it in college? <\/p>\n The idea was first kicked around at the 2025 AFCA Coaches\u2019 Convention, and it\u2019s picking up steam. The NCAA Oversight Committee<\/a> is considering a proposal to replace spring football with OTAs. The proposal was also shared with coaches at this week\u2019s ACC spring meetings<\/a>. <\/p>\n Instead of squeezing in 15 spring football practices over a 5-week period, coaches would be allowed to practice with their team 21 times during the offseason. Unlike traditional spring football, OTAs would not be constricted by time, allowing coaches to have a flexible offseason calendar. <\/p>\n Some could have three, 4-week practice sessions. Others might choose to break it up even more, or simply tack it onto their previously scheduled spring football calendar. <\/p>\n