National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News & Features

August 19, 1996

Football coaches encouraged to show sportsmanship video

The NCAA Football Rules Committee has sent a memorandum to head football coaches at member institutions urging them to show their teams a video produced by the committee in 1995 to more clearly define unsportsmanlike conduct.

fball The memo, written by rules committee chair and University of Georgia athletics director Vincent J. Dooley, also calls on coaches to continue stressing good sportsmanship with their players.

Last summer, as part of a campaign to reduce unsportsmanlike conduct in college football, the committee sent all NCAA football-playing institutions a videotape and asked coaches to show it to their teams. The 21-minute tape, titled "College Football: A Celebration of Teamwork," included film clips of potentially unsportsmanlike taunting or celebration and explained the committee's ruling on the legality of the actions pictured.

The memo was prompted by the committee's concern that insufficient enforcement of the rules against excessive celebration and taunting in a few high-profile bowl games at the end of last season could damage the credibility of the rules and set an inappropriate precedent for this year.

"The committee is very pleased with the diligence of coaches and officials and the cooperation of players in (last season's) effort to return sportsmanship to college football," Dooley wrote. "However, the work is not done. As a coach, you no doubt have seen how season-long progress in virtually any area can be eroded by a few mistakes in the final game. In the case of sportsmanship, there was a noticeable increase in taunting and 'showboating' during a handful of 1995-96 bowl games.

"The committee does not want these high-profile displays to set the tone for the coming season; therefore, I am asking you to redouble your efforts to ensure that your players' on-field behavior is consistent with the image and mission of intercollegiate football."

Dooley added that showing the tape again will not only help reinforce these principles with returning players, but it also will inform first-year players about what will be expected of them when they represent their institutions on the field.

Coaches who need an additional tape can contact Sharon Jones at the NCAA national office (telephone 913/339-1906).