College Football news: Spring practice starts, a commitment for Nebraska football and more

Spring practices are starting up in the world of college football as Michigan hit the field on Monday, Nebraska football lands a four-star from Texas and more in our college football news roundup.

College football is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year sport. With recruiting and the transfer portal and everything else, it’s a year-round endeavor.

But that’s also what we love about it and college football fans have something to be excited about with spring practices starting around the country.

So far, a bunch of college football teams have yet to announce their plans for spring. Bowling Green got started on January 30th and there were five teams that started on Valentine’s Day or earlier according to 247 sports.

Yet, Michigan became the first major program to hit the field on Monday as the Wolverines opened their spring practices. The Wolverines will play their spring game on April 1.

Some college football programs won’t get this going until March, which is curious with the April transfer window. Players might be trying to enter the transfer portal before their program’s spring practice schedule has even been completed.

More than anything, it’s a reminder that the calendar has shifted and we are taking the first baby steps toward the start of the 2023 college football season.

Nebraksa football lands four-star commitment from Texas

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule continues to leverage his ties to the state of Texas, when he was the Baylor head coach, by landing another four-star prospect from the state on Monday night as Roger Gradney pledged to the Huskers.

Gradney is 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, and is expected to play defensive back for Nebraska football. He’s also a dynamic return guy and has also played wide receiver.

Rhule loves athletes and Gradney definitely fits the bill. As a sophomore, he ran the 100-meter dash in 10.8. He also runs the 200 and the 400 and is over 44 feet as a triple jumper.

Nebraska football landed a bunch of players from Texas in the 2023 recruiting class, including two four-star commitments. The Huskers haven’t had this kind of success since the Bo Pelini days when Nebraska was part of the Big 12.

The Huskers are also trending up in the recruitment of the No. 1 overall prospect and QB in the 2024 class, Dylan Raiola. USC and Georgia are also heavily involved, but Matt Rhule has made a major impact on the recruiting efforts of Nebraska football, no question about it.

Major proposed rule changes for college football

We touched on this topic on Monday, but college football could be getting some pretty big changes when it comes to the clock. Games last too long and there are too many plays. In order to reduce that number for player safety, a number of proposals have been laid out.

A couple are pretty meaningless to me. One is that coaches couldn’t call back-to-back timeouts. It’s a solid rule but isn’t going to happen often. Another is stopping untimed downs at the end of the first and third quarters because of a penalty.

Again, it makes sense but that’s a pretty rare situation. The rule I am in favor of is the clock running after a first down — instead of the clock stopping until the ball is set.

That would shorten the game. Yet, the proposal says it would stop in the last two minutes of each half, so it would still help the two-minute drill.

Here’s a look at all the proposed changes and what they could mean going forward for college football.