Colorado coach Deion Sanders’ idea for turning college football spring games into NFL-style preseason games is gaining momentum.
After Sanders publicly proposed changing spring games from one-team scrimmages to two-team exhibition games, Syracuse coach Fran Brown quickly offered to bring his team to Colorado to make it happen. The two schools then sought NCAA permission, and now American Football Coaches Association executive director Craig Bohl says many coaches around the country want to see Colorado and Syracuse give it a try so they can find out how it will work and whether it’s feasible for other programs.
“If a couple programs choose to explore this, I think it’s going to be something that could have some real legs to it,” Bohl told the Associated Press.
Colorado has confirmed that it is working with the NCAA and Big 12 to make the exhibition game with Syracuse happen.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said he thought NFL joint practices were beneficial during his tenure coaching the Panthers, and he hopes Sanders is able to get college football joint practices and a new style of spring game off the ground.
“If anybody can do it, coach Sanders can,” Rhule said. “If that happened, I would certainly look into all that has to offer.”
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said he’d like his team to play a spring exhibition with Oklahoma. The Oklahoma-Oklahoma State rivalry, known as Bedlam, was an intense annual occasion in the state that was discontinued last year when Oklahoma left the Big 12 for the SEC. Bringing it back, even for an exhibition game, would attract a large audience.
In just two seasons at Colorado, Sanders has already made a major impact on college football. He may continue to re-shape college football by changing the landscape of spring games.
