Let's not kid ourselves.
Pace of play in college football is a real problem.
Well it's a real problem in the eyes of Nick Saban and Bret Bielema.
But that, in turn, is the real problem with the problem -- two highly paid head coaches are trying to change the rules in order to send a message to the up-tempo offenses that gives them headaches.
The men who are ultimately in charge of the SEC West's two slowest offenses are behind a proposal that will force offenses to let at least 10 seconds run off the play clock before snapping the ball.
It wouldn't be a problem to Alabama and Arkansas, and it wouldn't even be a problem with Auburn and Texas A&M, two high-octane offensive attacks that have given Saban grief in recent years.
Every type of offense gave Bielema's Arkansas team grief last season.
Even with Gus Malzahn, the godfather of the hurry-up, no-huddle style, Auburn rarely snapped the ball with 30 or more seconds left on the play clock.
The Tigers did it twice in the BCS National Championship Game against Florida State.
By the way, Bret, they only did it twice against your Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville last season. You know, the game when you were more worried about Auburn's game tape not showing a brief second of an extra-point audible and Anthony Swain "faking" an injury.
But the proposed rule change wouldn't make a drastic difference to most hurry-up offenses. It's the principle.
The up-tempo offense was not a problem a decade ago when Malzahn and those who coached like him were running things at schools like Tulsa, Hawaii and Houston.
But, now, these schemes are at some of college football's powerhouses, even those in Saban's backyard.
Look who has beaten Saban's Alabama teams in the last few years: Malzahn's Auburn offense in 2010 and 2013, Texas A&M in 2012, Oklahoma in the 2014 Sugar Bowl.
These fast-paced offenses are changing the landscape of college football, but should the rules change because Nick Saban wants them to change?
The front for this proposition is player safety, but it looks thin without the presence of hard evidence.
"Once again, I don't think we need to lose sight of the fact that the only way you can change a rule [this year] is the health and safety of our players," Malzahn said last week. "And it's got to be documented, and there's got to be proof. And there's not."
NCAA rules committee member and Troy Calhoun, who runs a traditional triple-option offense as head coach of Air Force, even admitted the rules would not be changed unless there was evidence of the offenses being a threat to safety.
Calhoun was an original supporter of the rule change, but he started backtracking shortly after Malzahn and other head coaches spoke out on the proposition.
South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier, never one to mince his words, called the rule like he saw it: "The Saban Rule."
Never change, Ol' Ball Coach.
But the backlash from coaches and fans has not stopped the side favoring the change, which will stop at nothing to make it happen.
Bielema showed how low he could go last week, when he cited the tragic death of California player Ted Agu as a reason to slow down the offenses.
"Player safety," Bielema called it, motioning to "death certificates" as if they are nothing more than a talking point to promote his agenda.
Agu's cause of death is still unknown, but let's make one thing clear: he died after collapsing during an off-season conditioning session. (Sickle cell trait is rumored to have played a part, but nothing is official at the moment.)
This tragedy has nothing to do with how fast an opposing offense is going, no matter how much the struggling Arkansas head coach wants to spin it.
But the war of words will continue to rage.
I personally do not believe the rules will be changed. There isn't any evidence to make a move in the name of player safety, and that rises above the influence of any coach, no matter how many championships he has won.
But until it is officially shut down, I'm with the head coach here on the Plains.
"I would like to think that it wouldn't [pass]," Malzahn said. "I'm just going to do everything in my power the right way to stand up."
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