University of Maine football coach Joe Harasymiak said he won’t have to make any major adjustments for new NCAA rules that have eliminated multiple contact practices in a day during the preseason.
The Division I Council voted in April to limit Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision teams to only one contact practice per day during the preseason.
If a second session is held on the same day, it may consist only of a walk-through during which players are prohibited from wearing protective gear such as pads and helmets and from having contact.
Walkthroughs also can’t include conditioning activities and, in the FCS, which is UMaine’s division, they are limited to two hours.
There must be three continuous hours of recovery between the contact practice and the walk-through.
The plan was endorsed by the NCAA Sport Science Institute and leading scientific and sports medicine organizations.
“Most coaches will tell you double-day (practices) have have already gone away,” said Harasymiak, whose team reports on Aug. 1, four days earlier than in the past.
“The only impact it will have is that the structure will be different,” said Harasymiak. “It will feel a little weird at first. We just want to follow a pattern that is best for the kids and allows them enough recovery time to have a (productive) day.”
According to the NCAA, research indicated that more concussions occurred during practices with tackling than without. Having the appropriate recovery time helps prevent heat illnesses and injuries from overuse.
The Division I Committee for Legislative Relief has issued a waiver to allow the football preseason to start a week earlier which gives the teams an opportunity to plot out their practice schedule which allows for 29 preseason practices.
“These rules have been put in place for the safety of the student-athletes,” Harasymiak said.
He explained that UMaine players have been in full pads approximately only three times during the preseason in the past and that is for scrimmages.
The rest of the time, their “contact practices” involve the players wearing shoulder pads and helmets but shorts instead of padded football pants.
He noted that there will be an additional cost to the university because they are bringing the football players to preseason camp earlier than in the past. The student-athletes are housed and fed on campus.
UMaine opens the season against Colonial Athletic Association archrival New Hampshire on Thursday, Aug. 31, at 7 p.m in Durham, New Hampshire.