NCAA Approves Preseason Practice Plan

The NCAA Division 1 Council approved a six-week preseason practice plan for the 2020 college football season on Wednesday.

Schools were allowed to begin voluntary workouts on campus starting June 1.

The start dates for each phase of a school's offseason program will correspond with the date of its first game. Per the NCAA, If a team is scheduled to play its first contest September 5, players can participate "up to eight hours of weight training, conditioning and film review per week" from July 13-23.

Then from July 24 through August 6, players can "participate in up to 20 hours of countable athletically related activities per week," as stated in the NCAA guidelines. These 20 hours can be used the following ways:

• Up to eight hours per week for weight training and conditioning.
• Up to six hours per week for walk-throughs, which may include the use of a football.
• Up to six hours per week for meetings, which may include film review, team meetings, position meetings, one-on-one meetings, etc.

Under this plan, there are no adjustments to the previous legislated 29-day preseason practice period. To continue with the above examples from the NCAA, "the school's preseason practice period would begin August 7 with a five-day acclimatization period, followed by the opportunity for up to 25 on-field practices." After the 29 days, the regular season is planned to begin on schedule.

“This is the culmination of a significant amount of collaboration in our effort to find the best solution for Division I football institutions,” said Shane Lyons, chair of the committee and director of athletics at West Virginia, said in a statement regarding the proposal. “Our student-athletes, conference commissioners, coaches and health and safety professionals helped mold the model we are proposing.”