Colorado high school football to use 40-second play clock

40 second play clock
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Colorado will become the fourth state in the nation to use a 40-second play for high school football during the 2016 season.  The Colorado High School Activities Association has approved a change to its rules that eliminates the 25-second clock, except for a few instances.

Under the new experimental rule, that could be used for up to three years, an offensive team will have exactly 40- seconds to snap the ball after the end of its previous play. Under the 25-second rule, the official had to signal to start the play clock after marking the ball ready for play.  Under the 40-second clock, the ball will be ready for play as soon as it is placed, and no official will blow a whistle to signal the start of the play clock.

The use of the 40-second clock began in 2014 when Texas high school football implemented the same 40-second play clock used by the NCAA.  Texas follows the same rules as the NCAA.  Currently Indiana and Michigan are also trying the 40-second clock on an experimental basis.

It’s possible that in the near future, National Federation of State High School Associations, which sets the rules for 48-states, could adopt the 40-second clock for all states that follow NFHS rules.

High School Football America decided to ask coaches around the country if they thought a change to a 40-second play clock would be good. Below you see the results that 65-percent said yes.

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.