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Dave Wilson
In another sign of college football’s transformation, Texas and USC have joined Nebraska in canceling their spring games.
“No, we’re not going to have a spring game,” Texas coach Sarkisian told Kay Adams on the “Up & Adams Show” podcast Thursday. “College football is changing right now, and we need to do a great job as coaches of adapting.”
Sarkisian said in the past two years, Texas has played 30 games and had 25 players invited to the NFL combine. He said the wear and tear and turnover, with 21 mid-year recruits arriving recently, meant it was time to think differently.
“Normally you play your last game, and you have a bowl game 30 days off,” Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte told ESPN. “We went last game at [Texas] A&M, then SEC championship game, home game, quarterfinal and semifinal. The reality is we played four extra games. In my mind, it was, ‘Hey guys, we gotta reimagine what the spring looks like.'”
Sarkisian said he hoped to have an NFL-style spring, with OTAs, or organized team activities, as the pros call them, with scrimmages.
“The development that’s needed for these guys to get ready for the fall is a little bit different than it used to be,” Sarkisian said. “I just don’t know if rolling the ball out and playing the game, when we only get 15 practices, is the best for us to maximize the opportunities that we get.”
A USC source said there’s not much upside to spring games with risk of injury and more important uses for financial resources.
“The biggest purpose that a spring game actually serves now is a fan engagement tool, and we just think we can engage fans in a better way,” the source said.
Those were all different reasons from the ones Nebraska cited, with coach Matt Rhule saying his biggest concern was effectively playing a showcase game for other schools to recruit his roster. The NCAA’s spring transfer portal window runs from April 16-25, after most spring games traditionally have been played
“I hate to say it like this, but it’s really because last year, we were one of the more televised spring games, and I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities after that,” Rhule said. “The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore, it’s just absolute free, open, common market. And so, I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world. I don’t want these guys all being able to watch our guys and say, ‘Wow, he looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.'”
Florida State canceled its spring game this year due to ongoing stadium renovations at Doak Campbell Stadium, but coach Mike Norvell said he believes the trend of no longer playing spring games is something that will continue. “As much as anything, teams can change so much,” Norvell said. “I would assume that you’re going to see less and less spring games just because of that part of it. You go play a spring game and put whatever information you want out there, and that’s going to help somebody that you’re playing against. Even if it’s just seeing the look of personnel. You can only get 15 days, I don’t want to spend a day that’s not as productive.”
But Del Conte said this was not a permanent decision for Texas.
“I couldn’t say this is a new version, we’re just looking at everything that happened this year,” he said.
ESPN’s Andrea Adelson, Heather Dinich and Paolo Uggetti contributed to this report.