@MarkKnudson41
The full on professionalization of college football was obvious this past season, and not just with the expanded playoff that lasted well into late January. It’s going to continue into the off season as new rules begin to take effect, things like smaller rosters, a pseudo-salary cap and limits on free agency (aka the Transfer Portal.) Some of these changes are for the better – like the scaling back of the portal, and guidelines for name, image and likeness payments – but one change that’s coming soon most certainly isn’t.
One result of these new restrictions and guidelines will be the disappearance of the traditional college football Spring Games, which have been held every April since well, forever.
The culmination of spring football practices has always been a celebration. A day when fans can tailgate, watch with great anticipation the emergence of some unknown, diamond in the rough back up running back who bursts on the scene in front of a packed house. And of course, the fact that your team is guaranteed to win. It’s all good.
Last year, future National Champ Ohio State drew a staggering 80,012 to watch their April spring game. Alabama wasn’t far behind, packing 72,358 into Bryant Denny Stadium for an intersquad scrimmage. Penn State was third with 67,000 fans showing up to watch theirs.
The only bad thing that ever happens during a spring game is injuries. It hasn’t been unusual over the years for multiple teams to lose important, even in rare cases standout players – perhaps for the season – to an injury that happens in what’s really just a dressed up intersquad. It only takes one such incident for teams to decide to hold their best players out of the competition.
Over the years, the pros have learned how limit the number of collisions their star players are exposed to during scrimmage settings and even preseason games, expressly to avoid needless injuries. College football’s answer to that has always been to give the bulk of the playing time – and bone jarring hits – to the backups and walk-ons, many of whom will be getting this one and only chance to shine in front of a full house. You can hold out your stars and still have two full teams and a game-like scrimmage when you have a roster that numbers around 150 players.
But here’s the rub: College rosters aren’t going to be 150 anymore. The new rules for next season put a roster limit of 105 (all now on full scholarship and getting paid NIL money) in place.
With that number locked in, very few coaches will want to hold an actual spring game anymore for fear of losing any even mildly important (and high priced) players to injury.
Like most of the schools in the south and Midwest, Nebraska has always held a huge spring football game event, typically drawing in excess of 60,000 fans. Last season the annual Red-White game drew 60,452 to Memorial Stadium (the day after a monster tornado passed dangerously close to the campus) which was the fourth highest in the country behind Penn State, Alabama and Ohio State. Regardless of the weather, the Red-White game has always been part of that season’s official football schedule and always been a huge day on the campus in Lincoln.
Late last week, Nebraska announced that they aren’t going to have a spring game this year. It’s likely there will never be another Red v White spring game ever again.
The reasons given were vague, including the thought that a televised spring game right before the transfer portal opens again was going to help other schools scout and potentially come after standout Husker players. But if that was the only issue, they could have simple decided not to show the game on TV. The real reason is fear of injuries, knowing that replacements aren’t going to be as readily available…and won’t come cheap. Just because a player gets hurt doesn’t mean he still doesn’t get paid and count against your salary cap.
Nebraska most certainly won’t be the last program to make this call.
Officially, college football rosters don’t have to be trimmed until mid-summer, so it’s probable that a lot of schools will hold one last spring game this April without exposing starters to injury. But Nebraska coach Matt Rhule has already begun the slow and painful process of trimming his roster down by almost 50 players well before August camp begins. So he and the Athletic Department decided to pull the plug on the highly public scrimmage now instead of waiting.
There will be ultimately be a void in April at every campus around the country. For decades and decades fans and alums had planned on, looked forward to, and traveled to spring games. It’s another college football tradition that’s going by the boards thanks to the professionalization of what used to be a highly entertaining sport played by “amateur” student-athletes.
Ironically, Nebraska AD Troy Dannen has said the Huskers spring practice will still culminate with some sort of competition for the fans to watch…very likely something along the lines of a “skills challenge” used by the NFL to replace the Pro Bowl game…and for the very same reason: Eliminate the risk of injury to athletes you’re paying big money to. Just like the pros.
