NCAA's Targeting Proposal Finally Aligns With Football Reality

It’s 10:30 PM on a Saturday. Your starting linebacker reads the slant, drives on the ball, and arrives a fraction of a second late. There is helmet-to-helmet contact. The flag flies. The replay booth buzzes down.

He’s gone. He hands his helmet to the equipment manager and takes the long walk to the locker room.

Under the old system, the punishment didn't stop when he hit the showers. It bled into Sunday film, Tuesday practice reps, and the first thirty minutes of next Saturday’s game. If the foul happened in the second half, you spent the entire next week preparing a backup who knew he was being pulled at halftime. It was a logistical nightmare.

The NCAA Rules Subcommittee proposed a change on Thursday that finally fixes the calendar math.

The Shift to Progressive Discipline

Under a one-year trial proposed for the 2026 season, the immediate disqualification remains, but the hangover does not. A player disqualified for a first-time targeting offense is done for that night, but he is eligible to play immediately the following week.

The committee, led by chair A.J. Edds, is introducing a "progressive penalty" structure that looks a lot more like actual coaching than the previous zero-tolerance model.

Here is how the proposed tier system breaks down:

• First Offense: Disqualified for remainder of game. Eligible for full next game.
• Second Offense: Disqualified for remainder of game. Ineligible for first half of next game.
• Third Offense: Disqualified for remainder of game. Suspended for full next game.

This structure acknowledges a reality of the sport: fast-moving geometry goes wrong sometimes. A first offense is often a mistake in technique or timing. A second or third offense is a pattern.

Managing the Roster

From a coaching perspective, the previous rule created an operational headache that punished the process as much as the player. Preparing a defense when you know your Mike linebacker is sitting out the first two quarters of the next game changes how you allocate practice reps. You are forced to split time between a starter who can't start and a backup who won't finish.

It disrupts continuity. It messes with the communication cadence on the field.

By resetting the clock for a first offense, the committee is allowing coaches to handle the correction in the film room rather than forcing a lineup shuffle. As Edds noted in his statement, the goal is to "enhance the progressive penalty to ensure proper coaching and player education."

If a player is getting flagged for targeting three times in a single season, that is no longer an accident. That is a failure of instruction. At that point, a full-game suspension is warranted because the message isn't getting through.

The Appeal Safety Net

The proposal also includes a mechanism for conferences to initiate an appeal after a second targeting violation. If successful, the player plays both halves of the next game. This adds a necessary layer of quality control for a penalty that is often subjective even with slow-motion replay.

The proposal still needs to clear the FBS and FCS Oversight Committees in March, but the logic is sound. We tell players to play fast and adjust their target zones. When they fail, the consequence should be immediate and corrective, not lingering and punitive.

You correct the technique on Monday. You don't bench the kid for a game he hasn't even played yet.