NCAA Football Committee Proposes Changes to Injury Timeout Rules for 2025-26 Season

The NCAA Football Rules Committee on Friday proposed modifications to the injury timeout rules for the 2025-26 season. 

Committee members, who met in Indianapolis last week, recommended that if medical personnel enter the field to evaluate an injured player after the ball is spotted by the officiating crew for the next play, that player's team would be charged a timeout.

If the team does not have any timeouts remaining, a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty would be assessed. 

Before becoming official, all rule changes must be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is scheduled to discuss football rules proposals April 16.

The injury timeout proposal was made after many in the NCAA college football community raised concerns about strategies in which players fake an injury to stop the opposition's momentum or to avoid using an allotted timeout.

This has been a topic of discussion for the NCAA Football Rules Committee in recent years. Before the 2021 season, a framework was instituted that allows a school or conference to request a postgame video review headed by Steve Shaw, the NCAA secretary-rules editor/national coordinator of officials, regarding questionable actions involving injuries.

If it is determined that a player faked an injury to manipulate the rules, the offending team's conference is notified, and any possible disciplinary action can be made by the conference office.

The impetus for recommending this change is to provide an in-game mechanism that can curtail the faking of injuries because committee members think these actions negatively affect the overall perception of the game.

"The committee identified the time period after the ball has been spotted as the most egregious violations of the injury timeout rule and is addressing the issue this way," said Kirby Smart, co-chair of the committee and coach at Georgia. "Having a set time frame of when the game is stopped for an injured player should hopefully help curtail the strategy of having players fake injuries."

Overtime timeouts 

Committee members also proposed that if a game reaches a third overtime, each team would have one timeout to use until the game is concluded. 

Currently, teams are allotted one timeout for each overtime period. At the start of the third overtime, teams alternate running 2-point plays until a winner is decided.

Committee members don't think the game should be stopped for timeouts when there are only two plays per extra period if a game reaches a third overtime. 

Other rule proposals

The Football Rules Committee:

• Recommended that when the decision on instant replay is announced, the referee say only that the call on the field is "upheld" or "overturned." The terms "confirmed" and "stands" would not be used.
• Proposed that no player be in the direct line of the snap to the potential kicker on punts. No player could be within the frame of the snapper. It would be an illegal formation if the team doesn't have the required number of players on the line. Also, if the snapper is on the end of the line by formation, the snapper would lose scrimmage kick protection, and the opposition could line a player over the snapper.
• Recommended if any player on a kickoff-return team makes a "T" signal during the kick, the play would be whistled dead.
• Proposed enhanced rules regarding words or signals that distract opponents when they are preparing to put the ball in play. No player could call defensive signals that simulate the sound or cadence of the offensive signals. The defensive terms "move" and "stem" would be reserved for players on that side of the ball and could not be used by the offense. 
• Recommended that after the two-minute timeout in either half, if the defense commits a foul with 12 or more players on the field and they participate in the play, the officials would administer a 5-yard penalty. The offensive team would have the option to reset the game clock back to the time at the start of the play. If the 12th player is attempting to leave the field and has no influence on the play, the defensive team would be penalized 5 yards with no adjustment to the game clock.
• Proposed that coach-to-player communication, similar to technology implemented for the Football Bowl Subdivision last year, be permissive for teams that compete in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Targeting

The committee had a thorough discussion about player health and safety, including the targeting rule. The committee will seek conference commissioner feedback and further discussion on player safety rules.