Give football programs option for spring, summer exhibition

Virginia Tech’s spring football game Saturday, despite last season’s discouraging 3-8 finish. Imagine if the event had been more than an intrasquad scrimmage.

Current Auburn and former Liberty coach Hugh Freeze has long advocated giving programs the option of scheduling an opponent for the spring game, and earlier this month he suggested that Auburn and Alabama could rotate playing in-state teams Troy and UAB.

Replete with potential, the idea is superb and could even include August matchups. Unlike the NFL, college teams would not be obligated to stage these exhibitions, but here is betting players, fans and television executives would embrace them — the latter two groups with their checkbooks.

Moreover, as TV networks and viewers and in-stadium spectators demand more Power Five versus Power Five regular-season contests, spring and/or summer scrimmages could afford Group of Five and Championship Subdivision programs an avenue to continue competing against the Power Five.

The paydays would decline, and the regular-season stakes would vanish, but the alternative could soon be minimal or no interaction with the Power Five.

In Virginia, the pairings could be as easy as having the state’s five Bowl Subdivision teams rotate hosting the state’s five FCS teams. That would have Virginia Tech, Virginia, James Madison, Liberty and Old Dominion matching up with Richmond, William & Mary, VMI, Hampton and Norfolk State.

But this need not be limited to FBS-FCS encounters.

In years they do not play during the regular season, Virginia Tech-JMU, Liberty-ODU and JMU-Virginia would make for appealing spring or August matchups. The same holds true for VMI-Richmond and W&M-VMI.

State lines could be crossed as well, with exhibitions such as Virginia Tech-Appalachian State, JMU-Delaware and Virginia-East Carolina.

Among coaches, this concept does not have universal support. But again, no one would be obligated.

“From a preparation standpoint, if it was a controlled scrimmage, I think it’s probably a pretty good idea in the spring,” Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry said, “where you have an opportunity to put all your from work from the spring into a final scrimmage against somebody else (to) get a better idea of what you have and where your weaknesses are.

“It’s tough when you’re going against yourself every day. I think the players would be excited. I think the fan bases would be excited. I wouldn’t be for it in August. I think injuries and things like that. But something in the spring, that would be interesting to me.”

As Virginia coach Tony Elliott noted, the NCAA allows sports such as basketball and soccer to stage preseason contests. So why not everyone, football included?

“It (would change) up the monotony of constantly going against your teammates,” Elliott said.

The state’s Sun Belt coaches, JMU’s Curt Cignetti and ODU’s Ricky Rahne, are far more skeptical.

“I’m really surprised by what I hear from the coaches,” Cignetti said. “Now maybe they’re playing to their audience and their fan base that they’re in support of this. Because everybody that sits in my chair, you want to develop players and you want to create your mindset in spring ball. But you want to keep your guys healthy for the fall. So no, I wouldn’t to play another team in the spring game or in a scrimmage because they don’t count. ... I’m a little bit shocked by the support that has out there.”

“Nope, no way,” he said. “At least you can kind of manage and control the tempo ... in practice with your guys. I know the NFL does it, but the NFL goes at a little different pace than the college guys do. And they’re a little different kind of athlete, too. They stay on their feet better and they’ve got better balance. They know when to turn it on and turn it off.”

Spoiled by ODU’s frequent non-conference games against Virginia Tech, Virginia and Liberty, Rahne sees no need for spring or summer meetings. But what if those opportunities diminish?

“I think it’s one of those things, to be very honest with you, that a lot of people will be like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’” Rahne said. “... Make it a possibility and then see who actually does it. Let’s be honest, as football coaches we ... have a bunch of grand ideas, and when it comes to actually executing them, we don’t always do them.”

Make the idea reality and let the marketplace decide.