T. Kyle wants to see Clemson on Georgia’s 2013 schedule. Clemson’s coach has something more immediate in mind:
Head football coach Dabo Swinney has an idea to liven up spring practice — have Clemson play an exhibition game against another team.
“Let’s go play Georgia,” Swinney said. “Don’t you think that could generate some good money with all the Clemson fans and Georgia fans? Let’s split the gate down the middle.”
Swinney noted at the high school and NFL levels teams play other teams in exhibition games. So Clemson’s coach figures why not at the college level?
“You get tired of going against each other,” Swinney said.
Of course Swinney’s exhibition game would still resemble a spring game.
Quarterbacks would be off limits, there would be red-zone situational work, and the coaches would agree beforehand when to play the first team and when to play the second- and third-string players.
And Swinney wouldn’t want to play anyone on the upcoming schedule.
“You don’t want to spend spring game-planning for another team,” Swinney said, “we are not going to max blitz. The NFL does it all the time, practicing against each other. Plus, I think you would generate a lot of revenue and that’s the opportunity I see in this.”
Oh, yeah! And it looks like Clemson could use the money. Make it so, Damon.
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UPDATE: I came across this 1975 article. There’s nothing new under the sun, as they say, especially in tough economic times.
Get The Picture 
Who’d a thunk Dabo’s a Rennaissance man? My initial, not-thought-out reaction is “great idea”.
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That’s a great idea. As an added benefit we can have an opportunity to trash North Campus in the Spring!
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This actually came up a couple years ago when Tommy West proposed the spring game idea (and I believe CMR was interested.) I think it was a home and home proposal for two springs with money raised going to charity. Like letting Redshirt players play in bowl games, another great idea was peed on by the NCAA as some sort of violation and the ideas died a quick death.
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I think the NCAA allows the practice with certain sports.
I suspect the reason it hasn’t been extended to football is a haves/have nots issue, i.e., another revenue source for the big boys that the little fish can’t match.
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This could actually be a big benefit for the small schools, more so than for the big boys. Many of these smaller schools cannot get games against the area’s big schools, especially at home, so this would not just be a big crowd deal for them. Chance for their recruits to see how they stack up, and a bigger atmosphere than they are likely to get to play in. GSU has never played GT, UTC hasn’t played TN is decades, Furman and SC rarely get together, etc. These type situations exist all over the country, and it is true with smaller D1 schools as well (Troy/Bama or Auburn. When you add the LSU/Texas, OU/TCU, MD/PSU, FSU/UGA, type matchups that would interest fanbases from schools close together geographically it could be a lot of fun and interest for the off-season. If the money had to go to charity for the big schools, it would reduce any complaints. Perhaps a rule that only D1-A schools could make any money from these exhibitions would help. Just too good an idea to let die without some effort to resolve the issues and overcome the objections. If schools don’t want to participate, fine, but this seems a great time to get alums together for a weekend fundraiser. It might also get CMR off his Masters’ Saturday addiction.
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The big money would be in the broadcast rights, I suspect, and I don’t think an ESPN would pay as much for a UGA-GSU match as it would for a UGA-CU one.
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Altogether now, let’s all sing: “Money, money, money, money–MON–EY.” Is ther nothing in CFB that isn’t about $$ anymore? The ScotchDrinker proposed a way that Ga State and other minor programs can get on the field with a GT or UGA in a non-threatening environment for each school. It’s supposed to be about the players getting ready for the next season, right.? So what if ESPN doesn’t want to televise it. I, for one, am sick of how TV has corrupted CFB. Plus, if Sports South will televise the G-Day game now, it’ll televise UGA playing anybody else, too. The important thing would be to have everybody understand that it is a “scrimmage” and not a game.
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Give me time. I’ll think of something. 😉
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I don’t think the Water Girl get’s paid. Directly, at least.
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She gets to sleep with one of the coaches.
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Gets to or has to? Big difference.
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Pingback: Dabo, I Love IT « The Grit Tree
I’ve been saying this for years. Spring game line-ups:
UGA vs. Clem
UNC vs. South Crack
GT vs. Auburn
LSU vs. Texas
Arkansas vs. Oklahoma St.
UT vs. VT
Florida vs. Miami
FSU vs. Alabama
Vandy vs. Memphis
Ole Miss vs. Southern Miss
It just makes sense!
But it’s like playoffs. I’m not as much against them as much as I’m against the guys that will end up making the decisions.
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I hate it. The idea sounds fun, but what happens when Aaron Murray breaks his leg?. Or AJ Green? Or anyone for that matter?
All of sudden, a fun idea turns into a season long nightmare. I’m bored with Spring Practice just like everyone else, but the idea of an exhibition ruining the real season is too dangerous in my opinion.
If you still don’t understand, call Arthur Blank and ask him to explain…
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Out of curiosity, how are the risks you pose here any different than the risks of spring football to begin with? A.J. Green can just as easily tear an ACL during the G-Day game as he could in a scrimmage game against Clemson. It’s not like injuries can only happen when you’re scrimmaging another team.
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My thoughts exactly. Not to mention they would not be taclking QBs, as mentioned in the article. The scrimmage would be structured EXACTLY the same as G-Day
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Great idea!
Holt – please read the article before commenting.
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Dawgaholic – I guess you don’t understand symbolism. Aaron Murray may be off limits but others will be live and ready for an injury.
Let AJ tear his ACL and then lets see how popular the decision is afterwards. The game would be a welcome change but it could cause serious damage if you’re unlucky.
As a coach, I would hate this idea. As a fan, it sounds great. Yes, the same injury could occur in practice but the odds of it occuring in a live simulation is much higher. That seems pretty obvious to me.
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Holt,
G-day is no different with the exception that we are hitting each other. We’ve had plenty of injuries there. There’s no difference in intrasquad live scrimmages and scrimmages against another team.
If the odds of injury were that much greater, you would see alot more injuries during NFL scrimmages against other teams than in intrasquad activities.
Pick another theory to bash the idea.
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Yeah I think that it would be a lot of fun, but really only with Clemson.
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The players say they get tired of hitting each other.
A scrimmage type game against Clemson would give the players & the fans something to look forward to. Probably help the coaches to see where the team is & what needs the most work also.
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I think this is a great,great,great,great,great idea. Do the NCAA regs say anything about this? It’s pretty unconventional, for college.
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Isn’t this problematic though for another reason. Dabo states he wouldn’t want to scrimage against a team he’s going to play. Well, how does he know Georgia and Clemson don’t end up in the Peach Bowl in December? These spring games would go from being fun places to trot out the occasional trick play to conservative boring-a-thons really quickly. Nobody would want to give up any ideas and give their opponents anything more on film to prepare for early games than the occasional televised spring game already does.
While this sounds like a great idea, I just don’t see it happening. I’d love some spring football between old rivals, but the more thought I put into it, the hard it seems to actually work out.
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Like the scotch drinking guy said above, the way it would work best is as a “game” against somebody where there is no threat….a D-IA or D-II opponent. They aren’t supposed to win. Both sides play their entire squads. The “game” is really a scrimmage that doesn’t count, sort of like the Bulldog BB team playing “Athletes in Action.” If UGA plays Clemson, even in the Spring, it will be a real game with a winner and a loser. Also, do you really want to get your stating QB or RB or WR or a key defensive player hurt? I’m all for a preseason bowl-type game at a neutral site (say, the GA Dome) to start off the season which could be a big payday for both schools but not in the Spring. Play a walkover team in the Spring.
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Bad idea.
1) Clemson needs the money. I doubt they would want this to be a charity game and I have no wish to help a competitor increase its recruiting budget.
2) The spring game would give Clemson additional publicity in our state. Again, I have no desire to assist a competitor in recruiting.
3) Back-ups would not get enough playing time in the game. Inter-squad games guarantee playing time.
It sounds good at first but on second thought………………….
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Good point on #3. I propose you would play one half with starters, regular length quarters), and the 2nd with back-ups. It isn’t about profits to me, the local merchants could use a big pay day with 90K fans coming in. Charities could get the gate money, say $30 a ticket. I don’t think broadcast rights are the issue here, I know money always gets involved, but this is pure incremental dollars and should not flow into the AD’s budgets beyond expenses related to staging the event.
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1 & 2 go both ways. If we’re splitting the money down the middle, we’re both coming out the same amount ahead. Perhaps they gain relatively, but still. Also, we get publicity in their state as well.
3, maybe, but if this is an exhibition game in the spring, you’re going to be more concerned with seeing how the top guys are looking in this sort of situation. We’ve got a brand new defense and a brand new quarterback, so the first stringers are what we’re really testing out anyways. I think being able to test out these new pieces of our game on essentially two different teams and two different styles. I think it’s more win than lose. Besides, it’s only one game, not the rest of the practices.
Great idea. Run with it.
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Maybe Tech could do a home and home with Buford. It’d be a money maker for both and Tech could trouble shoot the offense against a team that’s accustom to defending the option (it’s real hot in AA)
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Buford might win.
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might?
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Pingback: Kyle Gets Contrary: Why the Georgia Bulldogs Should Not Play an Exhibition Game Against the Clemson Tigers « MrSEC.com
I like the idea. On top of increasing revenue, this game would potentially expose both teams NATIONALLY. It would likely be the only FBS v FBS scrimmage in the nation, during a time when no other major college sports are being televised (there may be a few baseball games, but that would be it). Hell, ESPN may even make a GameDay of it.
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