Hosting joint practices and scrimmages during spring football has become a popular topic among college football coaches in recent weeks.
Colorado and Syracuse were on the verge of making it happen before the NCAA denied their request. Deion Sanders and Fran Brown requested permission for their programs to practice against one another this spring, but the NCAA cited academic and recruiting concerns and said no.
Then, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy suggested that joint practices and a home-and-home scrimmage with Oklahoma would be beneficial for both programs.
“We get tired of practicing against each other. It’s not going to be a live game because, well, I don’t know what (Oklahoma coach Brent) Venables would say, but I would be concerned with making it live just because of injury,” Gundy said. “But nobody really has live scrimmages anymore, so you make it a full thud, like we’re doing, and practice against them, just like they do in the NFL. We’re moving towards the NFL. Why not do that?”
Now, West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez is among the growing list of vocal supporters for the idea just ahead of the Mountaineers’ wrapping up spring activities with their Gold-Blue Showcase on Saturday.
“Coach Prime (Colorado’s Deion Sanders) brought that up recently. I don’t blame him,” Rodriguez said, according to Blue Gold News. “Shoot, it’s a way to make a little money.
“Of course you get so competitive, I don’t know if coaches would want to have it as an actual game. You would probably have to have some parameters where you would have to play everybody and make it more of a scrimmage-type situation. I think the fans would enjoy it. I’m not really opposed to it.”
As the idea gains more support, it feels increasingly likely that there’s a real possibility for it to happen in the future. Sure, it might take someone daring the NCAA to do something about it. But then again, how much power do they really have anymore?
