Buckeyes Ryan Day Suggests Major Rule Change in College Football

During a recent interview Ohio State coach Ryan Day suggested a big rule change for college football.

Author:
Harrison Reno
Jul 15, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

In this story:

If Ohio State Buckeyes coach Ryan Day was the commissioner of college football and could implement one rule, what would it be? Well, it isn't the one that every Buckeye fan can't stop thinking about since last January; rather, it is a less controversial rule.

"The hash marks, ..." Day said about what rule he'd like changed in college football in a recent interview with Joel Klatt. "You know, putting the ball on a hash mark is just putting everybody in the smaller area of the field. And we're not playing, you know, outside the numbers to the field. I think putting the ball in the middle of the field, more like in the NFL, opens up the entire game."

For those that don't know what Day is referring to, he'd like to see the width of the hash marks get smaller similar to the pro game. The distance between the hash marks is a big discrepancy when comparing the college and pro games. At the collegiate level, the hash marks are 40 feet apart. In the NFL, the hashes are just 18 feet and six inches.

As Day explained, when the ball is on the left hash, the offense is restricted from running certain plays to that side of the field as they don't have as much room to work with. At the same time, certain teams use the wide hash marks to their advantage, like Tennessee, whose whole offense is predicated on making defenses cover the width of the field as their receivers often line up outside the numbers.

Yet, the wide hash marks can make the game harder for more traditional offenses like Ohio State, where they don't often utilize the wide splits between receivers. Essentially, Day would like to see college football imitate the NFL's width between the hashes, as it'd keep the football closer to the middle of the field, allowing offenses to use the field's full width.

College football has already undergone several changes in the past few years, with the introduction of the transfer portal to Name, Image, and Likeness and, most recently, the upcoming expansion of the playoffs from four to 12 teams. Yet, like many coaches around the nation, Day wants to see the game keep evolving.