COLLEGE FOOTBALL THE BOX

The 5 Things You Need To Know For February 12, 2019

  1. The Opposite Direction: Arizona State HC Herm Edwards’ approach to his team and staff being on social media is literally the polar opposite to the vast majority of “major” programs. Obviously his roots in media before taking the job in Tempe helped shape his approach, but in a day and age where social media is *literally* getting people fired from their jobs, or ran off from the entire social landscape, it’s a bold strategy. His reasoning is laid out in this article on azcentral.com, and his reason(s) for the approach are extremely logical. https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/college/asu/2019/02/07/why-asu-herm-edwards-doesnt-muzzle-players-coaches/2802774002/
  2. Changes Are A Comin’: The NFHS passed numerous rule changes yesterday, some of them were much needed, while a few others brought intrigue. The most-notable one is the changing of the play clock from 25 seconds to 40. The most intriguing aspect is whether or not the FHSAA will specifically adopt the postseason instant replay, and what affect that would bring to games that are on some sort of TV/streaming service that has the equipment on-site with the capability to help make that call, versus those that are not. While the addition of 15 seconds also makes it easier to dissect a play from a media standpoint, what does this do for writers on deadline? Although admittedly these are not the biggest priorities to think about at the moment without question, they are something to think about down the road nonetheless. Also something that could spark some issue is adding the name tag portion of the jersey to a horse-collar foul. As fast as the game moves for some, that could blur things even further. Eventually uniforms that even people with bionic vision cannot spot the numbers on the silly color combos at times will be addressed within the next 6 years. Check everything out here: http://nfhs.org/articles/40-second-play-clock-postseason-instant-replay-among-football-changes/
  3. Well, THAT Doesn’t Fit The Narrative: Surprise, surprise, surprise. There’s data that supports the changes in HSFB are doing what they intended to do, and that’s make the game safer. We know that you can’t take the freak accidents out of the sports, shoot, you can’t do it any walk of life quite frankly. But you can always try and let them know they can kick rocks with the all-out assault on the safety of this sport at THIS level at least. https://www.nfhs.org/articles/injury-risk-lowest-in-history-of-high-school-football/
  4. But Wait A Minute: Here’s a slightly different angle to the boasting of player safety from above. Juxtapose the higher rate of safety in the sport with the harsh reality that it’s still a numbers game. When the pool of available human resources is shallow to begin with, you have to make sacrifices when the necessary changes have to be made. Check out this article from The Atlantic and judge for yourself whether or not it has to be like this. IS there a compromise that can be made? Or are some things just not worth compromising? Those questions aren’t as easy to answer when entire identity’s lie within communities based on the hometown school. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/02/rural-high-school-football/581782/
  5. That Ain’t Right, Man: Still wondering how a human aircraft carrier turned into an A380 to help Duke win that game on Saturday night? Check this out: https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2019-02-12/zion-williamson-block-against-virginia-broken-down