Alabama coach Nick Saban argued Saturday that he never was the impetus behind, nor has an opinion on a proposed 10-second rule that most coaches think would slow down college football's no-huddle offenses.
But his comments Friday at the Georgia Minority Coaches Association sure make it sound as if he believes the rule should be implemented.
The proposed rule would penalize offenses in college football if they were to snap the ball before 10 seconds come off the play clock.
Opponents of the rule argue that it takes away the basic tenets of no-huddle offense that prevents defenses from being able to substitute and wears down defenses.
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier went so far as to call the rule the "Saban Rule."
Saban came strong with a rebuttal on Friday.
"I really don't necessarily have an opinion on the 10-second rule," Saban said, according to AL.com. I think there are three issues that need to be researched relative to pace of play, the first being player safety. When you look at plays that are run, and a team averages 88 plays, and we average 65 at Alabama, that's 20-something plays more a game over a 12-game season, that adds up to four more games a year that guys have to play. I think it's wear and tear and tougher to prepare players when you have to play against a hurry-up offense because of the way you have to practice.
"I don't know that there's any particular scientific evidence that you could say, more guys get hurt in this offense versus that one, or hurry-up, or whatever, but everything that we've ever done in the NCAA is about exposure. ... We've always tried to limit spring practice, we limit fall camp, we limit the number of days you can hit now. We have acclimation days: so many days in shorts, so many days in shoulder pads. The NFL even limited their practice even more, but really found that they got more guys hurt in the games. The ratio of guys that get hurt in the game is 7 to 1 that guys get hurt in practice. So we're limiting practice, and playing more plays in the game. College football is the only game in the country, of any kind, that the college game is longer than the pro game. And the disparity in plays run is like 59 to 72 in the NFL - 59 for the lowest-average team, 72 for the highest. You know, in college, it's more like 61 and 90. Alright, so there's a large disparity. But that's just something that people need to look at.
The second thing is, can officials officiate the game? They're not in position when the ball is snapped, just like defensive players aren't in position when the ball is snapped, so that's a game administration issue that people should probably look into.
And the third thing, to me, and the last thing, which is not the most important, I think the first is most important, is there any competitive imbalance created by the pace of play."
Saban argued that football is not meant to have continuous play, such as soccer does, because of the physical nature of football. And it stands to reason that the more plays in a game, the more chances a player gets hurt, especially tired players on defense.
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