Kirby Smart offers opinion on the NCAA changing clock rules in games

One of the biggest rule changes in recent memory was passed down by the NCAA this offseason when they adjusted clock rules related to first downs.

For decades, college football stopped the clock after a first down was picked up. In 2023, that will no longer happen outside of the final two minutes in each half.

The goal of the change is to speed up games and improve the viewing experience for fans, as well as aid in player safety with fewer plays run. It has some coaches up in arms. Georgia‘s Kirby Smart is not one of them.

“It’s another one that I think’s a lot to do about not much,” Smart said during the SEC’s spring meetings. “I mean they did a lot of studies, at least in our league, I don’t think it’ll change but two to three plays per game. I do think the game’s getting long and this is an attempt to try to make it a little more efficient for the fans and viewer, which is a big part of what we do.”

Smart was not alone in thinking the changes aren’t a big deal.

But unlike Smart, Missouri‘s Eli Drinkwitz said the new clock rules will only serve to eliminate a few plays per game, not necessarily speed things up.

“I think it’s a nothing burger because unless it’s, I mean, the clock is still gonna stop inside of two minutes,” Drinkwitz said during SEC spring meetings. “So rolling the clock the last play of the game and when we’re talking, maybe seven less plays.”

As competition for eyeballs has heated up in the streaming era, TV executives are trying to make sure the product they put out is attractive to viewers and thus advertisers.

The NCAA has helped in that regard, particularly with the new clock rules.

The governing body is even open to more drastic changes down the road, like potentially running the clock even after incomplete passes. That’s a measure that will likely take quite a bit more convincing for traditional football folks.

“That (rule change) probably would have the biggest impact of anything we could do because there are so many passes now, and, unfortunately in some of these long games, there are a bunch of incomplete passes,” said Steve Shaw, the national coordinator of officials. “That could be a way to keep the game moving … and it would still leave the offense in control of not only the tempo but also the clock. If an offense said, hey, I don’t want to lose plays out of this game because they’re going to restart the clock, they can simply get to the line and get there quickly, so when the ball is there you can snap it.”