NCAA considering six-week plan for football teams to prepare for season

The NCAA will consider a six-week plan for football teams to prepare for the start of their seasons that includes two weeks when teams can hold walk-throughs before full practices start.

A copy of the the Football Oversight Committee’s plan, which still needs to be approved by the Division I Council, was obtained by The Associated Press. Sports Illustrated first reported on the one-page document.

The oversight committee has been working on a six-week model to lead into the season for weeks. It calls for two weeks preceding the start of a typical preseason practice schedule during which time

teams can do up 20 hours per week or weight training, conditioning, film study, meetings and walk-throughs with coaches. Players would not be permitted to wear helmets and pads during walk-throughs, but a ball could be used for instruction.

NCAA rules state teams can begin preseason practice 29 days before the date of their first game. The walk-through period would begin 14 days before preseason practice, according to the proposal.

The plan has not been finalized but could be approved within two weeks.

One person tests positive for virus at Iowa

Iowa announced that one person tested positive for COVID-19 out of 237 tests performed on athletes, coaches and athletic department staffers to prepare for the beginning of voluntary individual workouts.

The school did not reveal who tested positive or whether it was a player. Iowa says the school began testing May 29. Football players were cleared to begin voluntary workouts on Monday, mostly weight training and conditioning, in team facilities.