5 ways we’d improve spring practice and spring games (plus one)

The spring practice season is a wrap, and ever since it concluded we’ve been wracking our brains looking for new ways to improve the spring season in the future. Here are five methods we developed to improve spring ball going forward in the SEC.

Greg Sankey, if you’re reading this, you can reach me on Twitter @EthanLevineSDS if you’d like to discuss these further.

1. Move spring games off campus. I understand why this idea might face some resistance, especially from students who only live on campus for four years and wish to take in the live football-viewing experiences the SEC offers. That’s a valid argument. But you have to understand how big these SEC states are, and how far away from campus many fans and alumni live, even if they never left the state.

Think of how far you can drive in the state of Florida from Gainesville before hitting the border, and feel free to substitute states like Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and others in Florida’s place. Moving the game off campus would allow fans living far from campus an annual opportunity to watch their favorite team live, which in turn would likely intensify the raucous SEC atmosphere that many spring games lack.

Venues like NFL, MLB or MLS stadiums would serve nicely as satellite home stadiums. For instance, let’s say Florida moved its spring game from the Swamp to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, one of the state’s emerging markets. Think how many fans would turn out for the game and how enthusiastic they’d be? For many fans in attendance, it’d be the only Florida game they attend all year. That kind of environment could take spring games to a new level, which is why the SEC should consider this gutsy move away from on-campus games to widen the SEC’s footprint in its home states.

2. Stop matching up starters against backups. Seriously, cut this crap out. Bret Bielema used this format in Arkansas’ annual Red-White spring game, and he wasn’t the only one. What’s gained by having your first-team offense operate against the second-team defense? The Hogs’ spring game (again, Arkansas is not the only culprit, just the one I’ve chosen to pick on) was so lopsided, there was no way to accurately assess anyone’s performance because the starters were facing such an outmanned opposition it was as if an SEC team was facing a DII school. It’s impossible to scout these players or take their touchdowns, sacks and interceptions seriously when the opponents are their very own backups.

Allow starters to compete against starters, backups against backups, and see what you have. Why this isn’t the universal spring game model makes no sense, and there ought to be a rule mandating it from now on.

3. Open up additional practices to the public. Let’s be real, spring ball is as much about conditioning and refining the fundamentals of the game as it is learning the playbook and absorbing a new system in the event there was just a coaching change in the program. Sharpening fundamentals and learning the playbook are equally important, so why is it that, with the exception of the 1-2 practices every school opens up to the public, these spring practice sessions are kept under wraps like a top-secret FBI mission?

Each school gets 15 practices during the spring season, and it should be mandatory that at least five are kept open to the public, even though that would eliminate the potential to work on learning the playbook in this age of camera phones and the Internet. Use those five practices to sharpen everyone’s skills, and give the fans a chance to watch their heroes up close. Especially for the children of a given fan base, that could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it’s really not tough to make happen.

4. Mandate the release of an updated weekly depth chart. In the NFL it’s mandatory that each team release an injury report each week, so why can’t the SEC adopt a similar rule during the spring mandating coaches to update their depth charts on a weekly basis for the benefit of the fans? These college teams have between 80-120 players, and aside from a handful of returning starters its often murky as to who may be carving out a role for the coming year.

Releasing weekly depth charts would allow fans and the media to track who’s excelling and who’s struggling during spring ball, which would likely inspire a greater effort from players conference-wide. Furthermore, because all 14 teams would have to comply, it would allow them to better scout their opponents for the fall. Coaches won’t like opening the curtains and allowing fans to get that close a look inside the program, but considering fans are the lifeblood of college football that shouldn’t hold this rule back from being passed.

5. Leave celebrity appearances to before or after the game. I’m a huge Darius Rucker fan and an even bigger Hootie & the Blowfish fan. In fact, Hootie was my first live concert, and that band and its legendary front man hold a special place in my heart. With that said, Mr. Rucker doesn’t need to be catching touchdowns during live action in the South Carolina spring game (not just Hootie, but celebrities on all 14 campuses).

How am I supposed to take the game seriously if celebrities are running onto the field after plays have started and are just catching lollipop touchdowns? South Carolina actually counted Rucker’s touchdown catch (described with complete accuracy in the previous sentence) in the final score of its spring game!

Seriously? Why even format this as an actual game? Why not just hold an open practice and let the guys scrimmage a bit at the end? If this is a true spring game modeling a real game for the benefit of giving players live action before the fall, then embrace that. If it’s a light-hearted day framed more as a fan-fest, then embrace that instead.

Invite the celebrities, especially ones as loyal to their alma maters as Rucker is to USC. Allow those celebs to interact with fans and even watch the game from the players’ sideline. Let them warm up with the players before the game or participate in the alumni flag football game if there is one. But don’t incorporate them into these nationally televised games and expect me not to turn the channel. This is the SEC, the highest level of amateur football, right? Act like it.

Bonus: Play spring games against FCS opponents. Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze made this suggestion earlier this spring, and it’s not the worst idea in the world. After all, when the SEC faces FCS opponents during the regular season it often resembles a meaningless scrimmage due to the mismatch on the field.

Moving these games to the spring would still allow the FCS programs to make money off the games (money they use to more or less fund their programs), but the move would also improve the product in the fall, forcing SEC teams to replace an FCS opponent with someone more respectable.

Plus, watching your team play an outside opponent in the spring is way more satisfying than watching your favorite team scrimmage itself. An FCS team may be overmatched, but at least they’ll provide a new look against which your SEC team can measure its growth during the spring season.

Ethan Levine

A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.