Changes Proposed by NCAA

The NCAA’s football study oversight committee has proposed changes to improve players’ safety during conditioning workouts.

The plan, presented Friday by Grant Teaff, the former Baylor coach who is executive director of the American Football Coaches Assn., provides clearer instruction regarding summer two-a-day practices. It could go into effect in January.

The committee recommended a five-day acclimatization period at the beginning of summer conditioning, forbidding two-a-day practices during that period and restricting player workouts in full pads and a helmet to the fifth day only.

During the two-a-day schedule that would follow, players would be given at least a three-hour break between practices and two-a-day sessions could not be conducted on consecutive days.

Three college players, Northwestern’s Rashidi Wheeler, Florida State’s DeVaughn Darling and Florida’s Eraste Autin, died after summer conditioning workouts last year.

Tory Aggeler, Northwestern’s head trainer when Wheeler died, said the safeguards would make workouts more uniform.

“When Gary Barnett was coaching at Northwestern, he had three-a-day practices,” Aggeler said.

“These new rules are ironic, though, because [Wildcat] Coach [Randy] Walker handles two-a-days exactly like these rules will stipulate.”

NCAA spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said the proposal will be presented to the Division I management council in October.

The proposal also requires medical examinations for all players and mandatory CPR training for strength and conditioning coaches, who often oversee voluntary workouts and weightlifting sessions.

An eight-week period between January and summer conditioning would be designated as student-athlete discretionary time.

During those eight weeks, the player still would be required to complete eight hours of conditioning a week.