A rule change that Tennessee Vols fans were begging for in 2025 could be coming to college football in 2026
Tennessee Vols fans were irked by Oklahoma Sooners kicker Tate Sandell’s shorts last season.
A rule change that Tennessee Vols fans were begging for last fall could be coming to college football in 2026.
Actually, it’s not really a rule change — it would be added emphasis on enforcing an existing rule.
Tennessee fans didn’t care for the length of Oklahoma kicker Tate Sandell’s shorts in 2025
According to The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, the NCAA Football Playing Rules Committee is set to conduct its annual meeting at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Among the topics that will be discussed is the enforcement of the rule that says shorts must cover a player’s knees.
“The other big point of focus at the meeting will be seldom-enforced equipment rules for which the rules committee might propose the threat of an actual game penalty,” wrote Vannini. “One possibility is a warning for a first offense, followed by a charged timeout or a delay-of-game penalty if the offending team has no timeouts remaining.”
The shorts rule, which has largely been ignored, came into focus last season when Oklahoma kicker Tate Sandell’s shorts were well above his knees in the Sooners’ win over the Volunteers.
Sandell hit all four of his field goal attempts in Oklahoma’s 33-27 win (three of his attempts were 50-plus yards).
Retired rules official Gerald Hodges told WNML’s SportsTalk a couple of days after the Vols’ loss to the Sooners that it’s a joke the rule isn’t enforced.
“If they’re not going to enforce the rule, take it out of the rule book,” said Hodges. “I mean, it’s a joke — it literally is. The rule book says the pads to have to cover the knee and they have to have the knee pad. And they just look the other way…it’s become laughable to a point. Either take it out or enforce it.”
Sandell admitted after the game that he didn’t realize his shorts were that short until he saw a TV replay.
“I did not know they were that short,” said Sandell. “But I’m not gonna say that I’m gonna change it, because it’s working. I didn’t know they were that short [until] I looked on TV, let’s say that.”
“Well, they ripped pregame, so they kept falling down,” added Sandell. “So I think I kept pulling them up a little bit higher, just trying to get them to stay…I’m not changing it. We’re gonna make it work.”
Enforcing the shorts rule against Sandell probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome — though it might have affected his rhythm — but Vols fans still wanted to see it enforced.
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