We all suspected that the genie was out of the bottle on long field goals this year… and Cam Little just hit from 68 beating Justin Tucker’s record of 66 just 4 years ago. You may recall that Cam connected on a 70 yarder in preseason play this year - but it wasn’t the official NFL record because it wasn’t in a regular season game. So who’s next at 69+?https://youtu.be/nXKp_nxtbQ4?si=5A9wJjs63-ay3klY

According to my good friend, Rick Allen at Informed Athlete, here are three rule changes for our college football players... _ _ _ 1) NCAA DIVISION I "5 to play 4" Rule The NCAA Division I Cabinet clarified at their October meeting that D1 athletes will continue to be allowed no more than four seasons of competition within a five-year period through at least the 2026-27 academic year. 2) NCAA Division II Eligibility Proposal NCAA Division II members will be voting at the annual NCAA Convention in January on permitting D2 athletes to have five seasons of competition during an athlete’s first 10 semesters or 15 quarters of full-time enrollment. Currently enrolled Division II athletes MAY be able to have a 5th season of eligibility if they did not use their 4th season of competition by the end of the 2024-25 academic year. 3) NCAA DI Football Transfer Portal Changes Division I football athletes need to be aware of changes to the Transfer Portal dates that were approved by the NCAA recently. The December and April Transfer Portal windows for D1 football athletes have been eliminated. They will be replaced by one 15-day Portal window from January 2-16. *Also, the Administrative Committee approved a change to the “head coach departure exception” that will only apply for D1 football athletes — the new rule will provide athletes with a 15-day window to enter the Transfer Portal which will begin 5 days AFTER the hiring of a new head coach.

On Wednesday, the NCAA officially eliminated the spring transfer portal window in college football. Earlier this month, the NCAA Football Oversight Committee voted to eliminate the dual-transfer window system. However, the change had to be approved by the NCAA Division I Administration Committee. While there will only be one window moving forward, it’s unclear when that window will be. The Division I Football Oversight Committee initially recommended a 10-day portal between Jan. 2 and Jan. 11. Said Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule, "“It needed to go to one,” Rhule said, “You would negotiate with a player — and all power to the players — but you would negotiate with a player in December/January, and then have to renegotiate three months later when you haven’t done anything. That doesn’t happen in the NFL. It should be once a year, you make a decision, and then you play that year out."

This article comes from a friend of mine, Rick Allen, who offers a pay-for-service for guidance on all things related to NCAA student-athlete compliance. (check it out @ Informed Athlete) _ _ _ _ _ I thought it might be helpful if I share with you a review of the other redshirt rules that apply for Fall sports at the various college levels: NCAA Division I sports other than Football and Wrestling An athlete who enters a regular season contest (at the varsity or JV level) during the season in their Fall sport, even if only for one or two minutes or for one or two plays, will be using one of their four seasons of competitive eligibility. There is an exception for all Fall sports for participation in preseason scrimmages or exhibitions, BUT how such scrimmages or exhibitions are counted can vary from one sport to another. For that reason, it is best to communicate with the NCAA compliance director at your university to inquire whether appearing in an exhibition contest or preseason scrimmage for your team will count as using one of your four seasons of competition. NCAA Division I Football Any athlete on a Division I football team can compete in up to four games without being charged with a season of competition. NCAA Division I Wrestling A freshman athlete on a Division I wrestling team can compete in up to five dates of competition (other than a season-ending championship event at the conference or national level) without being charged with a season of competition. NCAA Division II Sports An athlete other than a true freshman who enters a regular season contest (at the varsity or JV level) during the season in their Fall sport, even if only for one or two minutes or for one or two plays, will be using one of their four seasons of competitive eligibility. Freshman athletes at a D2 university may compete in up to 30 percent of the games or dates of competition in their sport without being charged with a season of competition.

Many of you "earned" your starting spot back in 5th grade. You were the only one on the team who could kick. The job most likely has been yours your entire football career. But kicking in college... which I believe ALL of you could accomplish — will require you to truly earn the starting job. It might be as a kickoff specialist, or just short field goals, perhaps as the punter? Maybe even the guy who's the backup to everyone. Strange things happen throughout the course of the season, much less an entire collegiate career. This Fall, I'm the "special" Special Teams Coach at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (I'm helping train kickers, punters, snappers and coaches). And this is Devon Loehr, a freshman from Texas who's competing with a senior kicker who started last season. It's non-scholarship D3 football. Devon can kickoff into the end zone (65+) and made a 52 yd. FG with room to spare in practice last week (with the full team). He's a good kicker. So is the senior. They are competing and the first game of the season is this Saturday. Will Devon be our starter? If he is, he'll have earned it. If he isn't, he gets to continue to battle next week and throughout the entire season. What should he do either way? Stay positive. Learn what your strengths and weaknesses are. Keep working on the process of improvement. Be a good teammate — help those you are competing with — as well as being active with the entire team and coaching staff. It's a mindset that says, "I can't control what the coaching staff thinks about my ability, but I WILL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE, and trust that it'll be good enough." And when your name DOES gets called to kick — take a deep breath, relax and let the tension you feel inside energize you to think, "this is why I've worked so hard to get here... I'll make the most of it!" Drop your fear and become "excited" for the opportunity — BECAUSE IT IS EXCITING! Love it! ❤️ 🏈