The college football landscape is changing in 2014, not just because Sun Devils Jaelen Strong, Taylor Kelly, and D.J. Foster are projected to become a top offensive powerhouse unto themselves. There are new NCAA Rules Changes to it’s most popular sport.

There have been a handful of tweaks, restrictions and bylaws enacted by college football’s governing body. Here are four changes worth knowing about:

Relaxed Summer Rules

(These changes went into effect this summer). For the first time, head coaches can view summer conditioning sessions. Coaches can now meet directly with their players for up to two hours each week, whereas all communication in the past happened through a third party. Additionally, mandatory off-season workouts are capped off at eight hours for the eight week summer period.

While the NCAA rules changes have now made it possible for players to communicate with their coaches during this period, they have increased restrictions on communication between current players and incoming recruits. The first two weeks of the summer are a dead period between recruits and coaches.

New Contact/ Concussion Rules

The NCAA has taken a page from the Pac-12 and Ivy League Conferences with respect to “live” practices. They have now established similar rules for the whole country.

The NCAA rules changes limit the percentage of live contact practices, and define what drills are considered “œcontact” drills. The new guidelines definelive practice as “any practice that involves live tackling to the ground and/or full-speed blocking. Live contact practice may occur in full-pad or half-pad.”

New Independent Medical Guidelines

These new NCAA rules changes include specific guidelines that require independent consultations to determine the proper treatment of injured student-athletes.

The 1,125 word document can be found here. It addresses transparency, concussion protocol, and coach vs. medical director autonomy, all subjects that have become a part of the greater discussion as we learn more about head injuries and the like.

These guidelines are expected to be taken into account in matters related to other NCAA sports as well.

New Playoff System

Perhaps one of the most significant NCAA rules changes in 2014 will be the implementation of the new 4-team playoff system to determine the college football’s National Champion. Every FCS team has a chance to be chosen by the selection committee, who will designate which teams match up in which bowls. The selection committee is made up of “individuals with experience” such as coaches, student-athletes, collegiate administrators and journalists, along with sitting athletics directors,” per collegefootballplayoff.com.

The semi-final games will rotate between bowls, and be centered around New Year’s day. On a Monday night in January (, the winners of the semi-final games will face off in for the national championship.

Finally, this ESPN info-graphic further clarifies the process. Fork ‘em, Devils-