Today at SEC Media Days, SEC Director of Officials Steve Shaw announced a few changes to rules in the SEC that will be in effect this upcoming season. The one that everyone has been talking about ever since last season is the dreaded targeting rule. Steve Shaw addressed that rule today in the opening interview of SEC Media Day 3.

Targeting Rule Changes

Now here is what everyone has been calling for and what will happen: If a targeting call is reversed by replay, the 15-yard penalty will NOT be enforced. But now there’s a slight edit to the targeting rule’s off-limits area. For the Quarterback, a defensive player basically can only hit above the knees and below the head when the Quarterback is in a “passing posture”. Now that’s where everything gets a little fuzzy, in the minds of many. What exactly is a “passing posture”? I’m sure it’s from the point where a Quarterback starts his throwing motion (including wind-up) to the point of the follow-through being completed. As always, no defensive player can launch at or roll up on a Quarterback or any other player intentionally.

Officiating Changes

Another new wrinkle to the game this year is the addition of an eighth official. His official title will be the “center judge” and will be responsible for spotting the ball and substitutions. Only one crew will run with the eighth official this year, but every team will have a game officiated by this eight-man crew this year.

Jersey Rules

With the introduction of so many alternate and special uniforms, the SEC decided to go ahead and lay down guidelines for jerseys. From now on, a jersey number must be in contrast to the jersey. The penalty for this is the loss of a timeout at the start of each quarter. Now what does this mean? No more jersey numbers that are difficult to read from the press box.