NORTHERN SUN INTERCOLLEGIATE CONFERENCE FOOTBALL HANDBOOK 2017 EDITION (July 2017)

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1 NORTHERN SUN INTERCOLLEGIATE CONFERENCE FOOTBALL HANDBOOK 2017 EDITION (July 2017) I. The NSIC football chair shall be congruent with the athletic administrator council rotation. Todd Hoffner, Minnesota State University Mankato will serve as chair in II. Schedule. a. A seven-game north and south division schedule shall be played to determine the North and South Division champion. The South Division is comprised of: Augustana University, Wayne State College, Upper Iowa University, Concordia University, St. Paul, Winona State University, Southwest Minnesota State University, Minnesota State University, Mankato and the University of Sioux Falls. The North Division is comprised of: Bemidji State University, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Minnesota Crookston, University of Mary, Northern State University, St. Cloud State University, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Minot State University. b. All divisional teams will play four cross-over out of division games giving each institution an 11-game NSIC schedule. The NSIC Champion is the institution with the best record in the 11-game conference schedule. In addition, a North Division Champion and a South Division Champion will be crowned based on the record in divisional play. c. Divisional home and away sites shall alternate on a two-year basis. d. The conference office will develop a schedule to be approved by the coaches and the Athletic Administrators at least two years, and preferably four years, in advance. III. IV. e. The overall conference champion shall be determined using the percentage calculated from wins and losses in the 11 conference games. f. In 2018, the 11 game NSIC Conference Football schedule will have out-ofdivision games played in weeks 5-8. Out-of-division games must kick off by 3 pm unless mutually agreed upon by the two participating institutions. Football in the NSIC shall follow NCAA Rules. Game Administration. a. NCAA rules and the NSIC game-day procedures as adopted by the Athletic Administrators Council shall be followed. b. The game starting time is 1:00 p.m.; however, the home team has the discretion to establish game times for Saturday football games between 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Any other start time must be agreed upon by both schools. All game times must be determined by June 1st. c. To move a game off of Saturday, there must be a mutual consent from the participating teams.

2 d. The NSIC follows the NCAA pre-game field usage protocol. e. Halftime shall be 20 minutes. The home team has the prerogative to increase halftime by five minutes and the visiting team must be informed prior to the game. V. Facilities/Game Management. a. Adequate and secure dressing and meeting areas must be provided for the visiting team. b. Towels shall not be provided. c. A chalkboard must be provided in the team meeting area. d. Traveling teams will be responsible for their own headsets. (There is no maximum for number of headphones). e. Home teams have the prerogative to move the site of a game due to unplayable conditions with approval from the conference office. f. An enclosed area for home and visiting camera personnel is required. In addition, the end zone camera must be stationed at 30-feet or as close to the top of goal post as possible. g. Padding is required on the goal posts. h. A secure locker room with shower facilities and towels shall be provided for the game officials. If such a locker room cannot be provided, the host institution must notify the conference office no later than Wednesday of game week with its alternate plan. i. Uniformed security (campus security, police, and student-services) must escort game officials from their locker room door to the playing field during pre-game, halftime and post game. j. The host institution shall provide access to a television and VCR/DVD player to the game officials, in addition to, water and/or sport/soft drinks. k. The host institution shall provide a kicking net for the visiting team. l. The official chain crew must be non-students. m. It is recommended to use a first-down marker and line-to-gain marker on the side of the field opposite the official chain crew. Students are permitted to perform this task. n. In the event of inclement or hot weather, if a heating or cooling device is used on the home team s sideline, they should be provided for the visiting team as well. Additionally, the visiting team has the ability to bring their own device if the home team is not providing with the caveat it is communicated prior to their arrival. o. All home football games shall be streamed live through Stretch Internet using the following minimum standards

3 One camera that is manned and follows action (including zooming in and out if needed) Score Graphic (score, quarter, time) Play-by-Play Announcer Stretch live stats included in portal VI. The official Conference football shall be any official Wilson ball used for the NCAA playoffs, as outlined in the NCAA rule book. a. Three new footballs are required for each game, and are to be placed in the official s dressing room two hours before kick-off. b. On wet days, three new balls shall be put into play at halftime. c. Each team may use its own conference approved Wilson footballs. VII. Medical personnel. a. Each home team in football contests shall have a physician and a certified athletic trainer available at the field during and immediately after the football game. b. Subsequent treatment shall be the responsibility of the Conference team concerned. c. The host institution must have an ambulance on site with an emergency plan of action in place. VIII. NSIC Football Timeout Policy. a. The TV Media Timeout may be utilized at the discretion of the host institution in the sport of football for all televised NSIC games. Each institution should notify the conference office by June 30 if the institution will utilize the TV Media Timeout format for home games. Opponents must be notified no later than Tuesday of the week of the game if this is to be utilized. The host institution is responsible for securing a Sideline Timeout Coordinator (i.e. Red Hat) through the NSIC Supervisor of Officials, whose responsibility shall be to ensure proper compliance with this policy. The coordinator should report at least 90 minutes prior to game time to the football official s locker room for a brief discussion on signals and coordination of duties. The host institution shall also be responsible for arranging compensation for the coordinator and that shall not be paid through the NSIC official s payment system. For the 19 game Midco television package Midco will provide the Red Hat. The length of each media timeout shall be 90 seconds. Just like charged time timeouts, the 90 seconds shall include the play clock interval preceding the next play.

4 There shall be up to eight (8) media timeouts in each game. Media timeouts will be taken at the first two (2) approved opportunities in each quarter. Each team should have a possession before the first approved opportunity should occur (unless there is a score). Approved opportunities for media timeouts are following a PAT, field goal, punt, or safety. It should be noted that a media timeout shall NOT be taken after a turnover on downs. The media timeouts are not to be replaced by any other timeouts (e.g., charged team timeouts, injury timeouts, and official s timeouts). Further, intermissions will never take the place of a media timeout. b. Each team is entitled to three (3) charged team timeouts during each half, in addition to media timeouts. For live televised games only, a charged team timeout shall be 30 seconds plus the 25-second play clock interval. However, the head coach may request that one of the allowed three timeouts in each half be a full timeout. This request should be communicated to the referee when the timeout request is made to the officials. The charged team timeout during an extra period may be a full timeout, at the request of the head coach. c. During all timeouts (media and charged team), the referee shall notify both teams after one (1) minute, five (5) seconds later the referee shall declare the ball ready for play, thus starting the play clock interval. d. If the team charged with a timeout wishes to resume play before the expiration of one (1) minute and its opponent indicates readiness, the referee may declare the ball ready for play. However, media timeouts cannot be shortened regardless of whether one or both teams indicate readiness. e. Intermission between the first and second quarters (first half) and between the third and fourth quarters (second half) shall be two (2) minutes in length. Intermission between halves shall be 20 minutes, unless altered before the game by mutual agreement of the administrations of both schools. The conference office and game officials should be notified before agreeing to any alterations to intermission times. IX. The Coordinator of Officials is contracted by the Conference Office and his duties are as follows. a. Hire and assign officials to games from a list approved by the coaches. b. Supervise the officials work and continually attempt to improve it. c. Promote the cooperation between the supervisor s office, officials and coaches. d. Report to the coaches at the summer meeting. e. Administer the rating of officials. X. Squad Size. The visiting team may dress up to 55 players for conference games. a. A visiting team may have an unlimited number of non-uniformed student-athletes on the sideline for conference games provided they arrive and enter the playing field with their

5 respective team. All members of the team shall report to the locker room before taking the field. Student-athletes are also required to wear their respective team jersey. Studentathletes shall not be granted free admission through ticket gates. The undressed studentathletes must remain inside the team sideline box and will be held to the same conduct standards as the rest of the team. XI. Digital taping of all football games is required by conference members. a. Game-day filming requires a team to take a wide shot and an end zone tight shot of the game. The visiting team may film its own wide shot and it may be possible to do an end zone shot in some stadiums. b. The home team is responsible for loading the game film on Hudl no later than midnight post-game. Coaches shall have access to all games loaded on the system. c. All wide-angle filming must be done in an enclosed overhead shelter. d. All wide-angle tapes should include all 22 players on each play and the filmer shall view the chains or scoreboard after each play. e. Tight end zone shots shall include a view that shows from tight end to tight end and from the heels of the running backs to the heels of the linebackers. f. Home team is required to upload game film that includes down, distance, field position, offense, defense, kicking, as well gain/loss yardline. XII. Coach s Challenges of targeting calls via Hudl. a. All coach s challenges of officiating calls or non-calls via Hudl, must be sent to the conference office by 6:00 p.m. on Sunday immediately after the Saturday game to be considered. One must be a participant in the contest for challenge consideration. XIII. Scouting. a. Scouting of opposing conference teams is prohibited. b. Coaches cannot provide films, tapes or written scouting reports on conference members to non-conference opponents. c. Football 2-Deep Exchange Policy. Football coaches are to have 2-deep rosters to their SIDs no later than 12 p.m. on Monday. The SIDs have until 2 p.m. to send to that week s opponent. XIV. Honors and Awards. a. Coaches shall nominate players the last week of the regular season. Coaches are asked to rank their nominations when more than one player is nominated at the same position. Nominations are due no later than noon the Friday prior to the last regular season game. Coaches votes for all-conference are due by noon on the Tuesday following the final regular season game.

6 b. Coaches will vote by position by ranking twice the number of players on the first team. For example, offense has 15 first-team spots. Coaches will rank tight ends (2) linemen (10), wide receivers (6), running backs (4), quarterbacks (2), returners (2), punters (2), and kickers (2). Defense has 12 first-team pots, linemen (8), linebackers (8), and backs (8). c. The All-Conference team is selected by position by the coaches vote on their fall conference call. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own players. The following tie-breaking procedures shall be used in the event of ties in all-conference voting. 1. Number of first-team votes received. 2. Number of second-team votes received. 3. Appearance on most number of ballots. 4. Member of team with higher finish in the division. d. An All-Conference honorable mention list is comprised by the top vote receiver not making the first or second team. Offense (5), tight end (1), lineman (1), wide receivers (1), running backs (1), quarterback (1). Defense (3), lineman (1), linebackers (1), and backs (1) per division. The final 17 honorable mention spots will be distributed with each team in each division receiving two at-large spots with the Division Champion receiving three at-large honorable mention players. The honorable mention team shall not exceed a total of 50 players, 25 from the north division and 25 from the south division. e. A Coach of the Year shall be selected by vote during the all-conference process. f. The in-person coaches meetings shall be held in the summer. A coaches teleconference will take place on the Wednesday following the final regular season game to discuss allconference and the Glen Galligan Award. The call will also act as a business call to review the season. g. The Conference Most Valuable Players and Newcomers of the Year shall be selected for the offensive and defensive teams by the coaches vote on their fall call. Redshirt freshman and transfers are eligible for Newcomer of the Year honors. The studentathlete must complete his first season of competition at the institution according to NCAA rules. h. The Glen Galligan Award winner shall be selected by a coaches vote at the fall meeting. Coaches cannot vote for their own nominee. Award eligibility: The Glen E. Galligan Outstanding Senior Football Player Award recipient shall be a four-year student at his institution. A. He shall be a full-time regularly enrolled graduating senior student, playing on one of the Conference football teams. B. He shall be an academically sound student and make a positive contribution to his institution.

7 C. The winner s name shall be placed on a plaque on display in the trophy case at Winona State University. D. A trophy shall be sent to the winner of the award as well as the conference school he represented in competition. i. Pre-season Awards. The conference office, by vote of the coaches, shall distribute a preseason media release which includes a pre-season NSIC Offensive Player of the Year and NSIC Defensive Player of the Year selection. Each coach will be asked to include four players to watch from their own team for the media release. j. The NSIC Office will select the player of the week based on the following criteria. Offensive Player of the Week 1. Overall performance (Ex. Yards per game / TDs, etc). 2. Performance of individual led to team success. 3. Quality of opponent played. 4. Milestones/school records achieved. Defensive Player of the Week 1. Overall performance (Ex. Tackles / INTs, TDs, etc). 2. Performance of individual led to team success. 3. Quality of opponent played. 4. Milestones/school records achieve. Special Teams Player of the Week 1. Overall performance (Ex. Return Yards, Tackles, TDs, etc). 2. Performance of individual led to team success. 3. Quality of opponent played. 4. Milestones/school records achieved. XV. Mineral Water Bowl Selection of Team The Conference representative to the Mineral Water Bowl shall be the highest finishing NSIC team in the conference standings that is not selected for the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The Mineral Water Bowl will be played on the first Saturday in December in Excelsior Springs, Mo. Mineral Water Bowl Tie-Breaker a. A divisional champion with a 6-5 record or greater, not selected for NCAA Division II Playoffs. b. Best overall NSIC record. c. Head-to-head. d. Common opponent.

8 e. Rose Bowl Rule. f. Lowest defensive average. g. Coin flip. XVI. Preseason Practice Recommendation. Two-a-day practices are not permitted. A second session of no helmet/pad activity may include walk-throughs or meetings; conditioning in the second session of activity is not allowed. In any given seven days following the five-day acclimation period: Up to three days of practice can be live contact (tackling or thud). There should be a minimum of three non-contact/minimal contact practices in a given week. A non-contact/minimal contact practice should follow a scrimmage. One day should be no football practice. Beginning with the 2017 preseason, after the five-day acclimatization period, NCAA Division II football teams are permitted to participate in film review and meetings during the three-hour recovery period. Allowing student-athletes to participate in meetings and film review during the three-hour recovery period will permit student-athletes to complete their football-related obligations during a more reasonable timeframe that will result in shorter days and more rest time for student-athletes overall; This change provides more flexibility for developing preseason schedules that adequately prepare student-athletes for competition; and The Division II governance structure will assess necessary legislative changes for the 2018 year.

9 NSIC Football NSIC Pre-Game Procedure and Time Line Time Prior to Game Activity 75:00 Game clock starts. Field available for pre-game warm-up, teams may use L on the side of the field beginning at the 30 yard line in front of their bench. 60:00 Field available 45/45 to both teams or when both full teams are on the field. When players from both teams are on the field. All officials should be on the field. 15:00 Both teams off field. 7:00 Pre-game announcements and introductions. Visitors introduced first, followed by home team. 5:00 NSIC Sportsmanship Creed and National Anthem Teams shall be on field, lined up for the National Anthem 3:00 Captains report to midfield for the coin toss. 0:00 Kickoff Halftime Time 20:00 Clock starts when field is clear of teams. 5:00 Head coach notified of time remaining. 0:00 Second half kickoff Pre-game warm-up notes Teams will use the NCAA pre-game field usage protocol for warm-up

10 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Football Targeting Replay Procedures Pregame I. Prior to game day, the host school should identify an NSIC Replay Staff official. This person should be notified of his/her duties and should arrive two hours before kickoff. a. The NSIC Replay Staff official shall not have other duties during the contest. b. The individual shall be a representative of the institution. If the play is provided by a media organization at the contest, the institutional representative (NSIC Replay Staff Official) will still be responsible for obtaining and delivering the targeting clip(s). II. 90 minutes prior to kickoff, NSIC Replay Staff official should meet with Head Referee in officials locker room to discuss replay procedures and determine how to best access the film review area. a. During pregame meeting, NSIC Replay Staff ensure compatibility with SD card and computer/view device*(computer/viewing device supplied by the home institution.) b. NSIC Replay Staff official will also confer with Head Referee on where the film will be reviewed. The room must be secluded. c. Any source of video (game film or production) available to the Referee for the halftime review can be used. The only condition is that before the game starts, both teams need to know what video will be used in case there is a review. *If computer is not SD-card compatible, the film needs to be transferred to a USB device, or another storage device at halftime. That device will be taken to the designated film review area for review. First Half Procedures I. Responsibility of the NSIC Replay Staff when a targeting penalty is called: a. Mark actual time of penalty (ex.-3:42 p.m.) b. Mark game time of penalty (ex.-8:33, 2 nd qtr) Halftime Procedures I. The NSIC Replay Staff official takes the SD card or storage device from the camera or film area and brings it to the designated review area. a. Only the NSIC Replay Staff official may take the SD card or footage source down to the designated review area. II. Once at the designated film review area: a. The NSIC Replay Staff official may cue up the film to the clip in question. b. After cuing up the film, the NSIC Replay Staff official must exit the designated film review area while the clip is being reviewed. Only the Head Referee is allowed to review. III. After the Head Referee has reviewed the clip, the NSIC Replay Staff official will reenter the designated film review area and take the card back up to the camera or film area. It is important to make sure nothing is deleted from the card. IV. After halftime, the Referee (white hat) will inform both coaches of his decision, regardless of whether or not the player in question is reinstated.