Cal Football: NCAA Proposal Would Set Dates for Preseason Practice
Cal could begin preseason football camp as early as July 31 based on an NCAA proposal that is expected to be passed this week. Preseason camp would be the third phase of the plan for proposed training sessions for football players.
The NCAA proposal would allow football coaches to work with players in the second week of July, and by mid-July coaches could be conducting walk-throughs, according to a report by Sports Illustrated. That would be followed by a four-week preseason camp.
***Update: The measure was approved on June 11 by the NCAA Oversight Committee and awaits final aproval next week by Division I Council, which is expected to be a formality.
It remains uncertain when Cal would begin each of the steps, however. Cal has not yet decided whether it will allow its football players to begin voluntary, on-campus workouts on June 15, which is the date the Pac-12 has set for allowing schools to begin those voluntary workouts.
Here is an except from the Sports Illustrated report:
Continuing their progress toward an on-time kickoff to the season, college athletic leaders are set to take a giant leap down that path. 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. A draft of the plan has been circulated to conference offices and athletic departments for feedback. The D-I Council would approve the final version of the plan at its next meeting on June 17. Only small adjustments are expected over the next three days. “We’re 90% there,” Shane Lyons, the West Virginia athletic director and chair of the Oversight Committee, told Sports Illustrated in an interview Monday.
Under the plan, normal “required” summer workouts, which includes coaching interaction, could begin for some as early as July 6. Last month, the NCAA granted schools the ability beginning June 1 to hold on-campus voluntary workouts, which do not include coaching interaction. In required workouts, athletes can spend six hours a week with the strength staff on weight training and conditioning and spend two hours with coaches for film study. The required workouts would lead into what’s being termed as “enhanced” summer training, a two-week stretch constituting the first portion of the proposed six-week preseason practice plan.
(Click here for the entire Sports Illustrated story.)
Players would not be allowed to wear helmets or pads during enhanced workouts, which include strength training, film sessions and walk-throughs. But they can work with a football. These sessions are comparable to the NFL’s OTAs (organized team activities).
he allowable starting date of each activity would be determined by the date of the team’s first game.
Since Cal’s first game of the season is scheduled for Aug. 29 at UNLV, the Bears could start activities earlier than some other schools. Cal could begin required workouts on July 6, enhanced training on July 17 and preseason camp on July 31.
Given the COVID-19 protocols in the state of California and the conservative approach the university is likely to take, it seems unlikely Cal would begin the phases on the earliest dates allowable.
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