NCAA Division I Council Approves Football Oversight Committee’s Six-Week Preseason Practice Schedule

By June 18, 2020 (10:45 am)Basketball, Football

The NCAA Division I Council officially approved the Football Oversight Committee’s six-week preseason practice schedule during a virtual meeting on Wednesday evening.

“The Football Oversight Committee worked hard to create a model that balances the proper precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the need for an acclimatization period to safely return to play,” said council chair and Penn athletic director M. Grace Calhoun. “The council members believe approving this model is a positive step forward for the sport.”

With Ohio State’s season opener against Bowling Green scheduled for Sept. 5, the Buckeyes can begin summer workouts on July 13, non-contact walk-through practices on July 24 and preseason camp on Aug. 7. Summer workouts allow for up to eight hours per week of on-campus team activities, which will then expand to 20 countable hours of athletically related activities during the walk-through practice period — eight hours of weight training and conditioning, six hours of walk-throughs and six hours of meetings.

Players will also be required to have at least two days off per week during that period.

The six-week model does not make any adjustments to the typical 29-day preseason practice period, and there will be no hourly limits on activities until fall classes begin or seven days before the first game, whichever comes first.

The Division I Council also approved a plan for men’s and women’s basketball teams to resume workouts beginning on July 20, but deferred a decision on possibly adjustments to the basketball recruiting calendar due to the spread of coronavirus.

“The council worked to balance the desire to get student-athletes training again with the need to repopulate our campus and athletics facilities gradually and safely within all campus, local and state mandates,” Calhoun said. “Student-athlete health and safety should remain a top priority.”

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