NCAA Preparing For Six-Week Training Camp Ramping Up To 2020 College Football Season

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The NCAA is preparing for a six-week period which allows college football programs to prepare for the 2020 season beginning in July.

According to Sports Illustrated, college athletic leaders are set to take a giant leap as the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee is expected to approve a plan that includes a six-week preseason period.

Once that plan is approved by the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee, it will go to the NCAA Division I Council for vote. The Council is expected to meet on June 17.

Six-Week Plan

Under the six-week plan, normal summer workouts which includes coaching interaction could begin as early for some programs as July 6. In required workouts, student-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. Those workouts would lead into an enhanced summer training which is a two-week stretch constituting the first portion of the proposed six-week preseason plan.

Leaders are now turning attention to protocols for practices & sidelines.

Some believe coaches 65+ should wear masks during games. (Saban is 68).

As for camp, some coaches plan to hold 2-4 practices a day with different players to keep groups smallhttps://t.co/6iioMDIc51

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) June 8, 2020

During the enhanced summer practices/workouts, athletes would be allowed 20 hours a week for activities which includes eight hours of strength training and film review. It would also add an hour walk-through practice each day and an hour of team meetings.

The start date for each of the activity segments along with required workouts, enhanced training and preseason camp will be determined by the team’s first game. Teams that start the season during Labor Day weekend (Week 1) could begin required workouts by July 13 with enhanced training beginning July 24 and preseason camp on August 7.

Safety Guidelines

According to Todd Berry who is the executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, officials are beginning to study specifics related to camp and in-season practices. Berry thinks that coaches could be wearing masks during games and the team sideline area which is between the 30-yard lines would be expanded to provide social distancing.

Berry mentioned that he heard from coaches around the country that would not hold any team meetings and that they would continue to hold them virtually. All of these plans could be derailed with virus spikes across states and campuses.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.