BYU Football Could Start Mandatory Practices in Mid July
Football isn't back yet, but the likelihood of college football this fall is about to improve. Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger reports that "Football coaches could begin interacting with their players as soon as the second week of July and by mid-July, they’ll be conducting walk-through practices, with a ball. That’s according to an NCAA proposal set for approval this week."
Dellenger says, "On Thursday, the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee is expected to approve the long-talked-about six-week preseason practice plan and recommend it to the NCAA D-I Council. The plan is in the last stages of finalization." Typically, fall camp is only four weeks long. This extended fall camp would allow teams more time to prepare for the upcoming season since most schools were unable to complete spring practice.
The six weeks would be broken up into two phases: "enhanced" summer training and preseason training. "Enhanced" summer training would be a two-week period where "athletes are allowed 20 hours a week for activities. That includes eight hours of strength training and film review, an hour walk-through practice each day and an hour of daily team meetings. Enhanced training has been compared to NFL OTAs, but players cannot wear helmets or pads during walk-throughs."
The preseason training would be like the fall camp that we are accustomed to. However, this year might require multiple practices per day to maintain social distancing. Dellenger says a few "coaches have discussed holding two-to-four separate practices a day, each including a different and smaller group of players."
The start date for the enhanced summer training depends on the date of your first game. For teams that kickoff on Labor day weekend, they would be allowed to start on July 13. BYU kicks off two days earlier than most schools, so I would expect them to start on July 11.
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