Coaches likely to push for changes in overtime

Sporting News, The, Nov 18, 1996 by Ivan Maisel

Overtime is an unqualified success with fans. It may not be football, but it is a lot of fun. It may skew the record books - all those touchdown passes in the "extra innings" count - but baseball has survived the designated hitter. The one thing that may not survive is the collective mental health of the coaches.

Some of it has to do with whether you win. After Houston, 2-0 in overtimes, upset No. 20 Southern Mississippi, 56-49, Cougars coach Kim Helton said, "You couldn't see this game and not love college football."

One week earlier, after enduring three overtime possessions against California, Arizona coach Dick Tomey ordered a fake extra-point attempt. The Wildcats lost, 56-55. "I was just trying to find a way to win the damn game," Tomey said.

On the same day, after losing to Hampton in six overtimes, Florida A&M coach Billy Joe said, "Man, I don't ever want to go through that again."

Those cries won't go unheard by the American Football Coaches Association. The AFCA's endorsement of overtime provided the impetus for the NCAA Football Rules Committee to approve it for this season.

AFCA executive director Grant Teaff would like his membership to consider caping the overtime at three periods. "This is something we would evaluate and see if there needs to be a cap," Teaff says. "You get a little concerned about safety and fatigue and injuries."

Southern California coach John Robinson, whose Trojans lost in two overtimes to Arizona State, has suggested moving the starting point from the 25-yard line to the 30. As it is, a team could kick a 42-yard field goal on first down. Moving back five yards would mean that only the teams with the best kickers would have a chance to score without moving the ball.

Though the coaches embraced the concept of overtime, they have remained reluctant to welcome change suggested by team physicians and trainers. They have also proved that when it comes to the NCAA, the doctors are Rutgers and the coaches are Nebraska.

Last summer, Newsday reported on the high rate of concussions that occur in spring practice. The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports is sponsoring legislation for the 1997 convention in January that would reduce the number of practice sessions that include contact from 10 to five. The proposal also would prohibit contact in the first two practices.

The NCAA Council decided in August to endorse the legislation but last month changed its mind. Teaff says such legislation should wait until the restructuring of I-A that will take place next year. Then, he suggests, the number of contact practices should be increased. "It is absurd to lower the number of opportunities when you should increase the number so that you don't have the intensity of contact in a short period of time," he says.

G. Dennis Wilson, a professor at Auburn and the chair of the safeguards committee, says, "I'm not totally surprised" by the Council's switch. "We feel like we've got the high road."

The committee may be right, but it might have to be satisfied with being right. Without the active Support of the Council, the NCAA's top executive body, the votes will be more difficult to obtain.

Boiled Wolverines

Q: Name two Big Ten schools against which Michigan hasn't scored a touchdown the last two seasons.

A. Wisconsin and Purdue.

Of course, the Wolverines haven't played the Badgers the last two seasons. But they have played the Boilermakers, who gave up 52 points to Michigan State and 42 to Ohio State this season alone. Michigan has scored eight points against Purdue in two seasons. The Boilermakers' 9-3 upset all but eliminated the Wolverines from the Rose Bowl and the Bowl Alliance.

It also provided a nice end piece to the Purdue career of coach Jim Colletto, who resigned last week, effective at the close of the season. It does nothing to explain the contract extension of Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, except to say that irony is alive and well and available every Saturday at your local college football stadium. At Kentucky, Bill Curry is 2-0 since his firing.

Losing experience

Four weeks before the end of the season, five coaching jobs are open. What's unusual - and a bit sad - is the experience that is leaving the game. Jim Sweeney, Bill Mallory, Curry and John Ralston take with them 80 years and more than 540 victories.

Among the coaches struggling to retain their jobs are Jim Wacker and Johnny Majors, who would add 55 years and 340 victories to the pot. They say coaching is a young man's business. Next season, that will be truer than ever.

All clear, Houston

Houston, picked as a "Northwestern wannabe" in the preseason by The Sporting News, is 6-4 and a victory over Louisville from tying for the Conference USA title. Houston's Antowain Smith rushed for 231 yards and five touchdowns in the victory over Southern Mississippi.

Remember, Houston ran the run-and-shoot when Helton took over in 1993. The Cougars couldn't have run the ball against Prairie View A&M. Southern Mississippi had the nation's No. 3 rushing defense. Not anymore.