"New" has been a reoccurring theme for the football team this year: new season, new attitude, new training center, new goal posts. Now the Blue Devils can add one more to that list: new alcohol policy.
The team's new policy consists of a zero tolerance for alcohol consumption Monday through Friday. After games on Saturdays and Sundays the policy calls for moderation.
Head coach Carl Franks said he had virtually nothing to do with the policy, leaving the decision to the players.
"That's some stuff they came up with," he said. "I can't legislate everything. They have to police themselves a little bit, and I think they're doing a great job of doing it."
The idea for the policy was first started in the off-season when the leadership council of the team--made up of one player from each position--decided that the team needed a unified alcohol policy.
"The reason we made [the policy] was for a symbolic gesture," said junior linebacker Ryan Fowler, who added that originally there was some opposition within the team. "We decided that if it wasn't a big problem to begin with, then it should be no problem to go and follow-through with the policy."
The team also decided that there would be a zero tolerance policy seven days a week until the first win of the season. There was more controversy on the team about the finality of this decision, but it was swept away with the victory against East Carolina in the first game of the year.
So far, there have been no reported violations of the policy, and the team looks at it as a measure of clarity more than anything else.
"It wasn't that there was a problem before. We just wanted to make sure there was no confusion," junior offensive tackle Drew Strojny said.
There are no specific punishments for violations, but the team said the sanctions would be something serious, such as limiting playing time.
"It's more of a subjective thing," senior linebacker Jamyon Small said. "It deals with playing time. Everybody wants to play. If you can't follow the rules and be disciplined, then take your playing time away."
Many players on the team feel that the policy has helped unite the squad, and that unity played a significant factor in the win against ECU.
"All kinds of stuff help win a football game," Franks said. "Sometimes they're little things, sometimes they're big things. You can't discount any of them."
However other players felt that it had not had much of an impact.
"I'd say it's been a non-factor, honestly," Fowler said. "It wasn't a big problem before, and it's still not a problem now."
The team stressed that there was never an alcohol problem, and that the policy was drawn in order to clarify things. Many members of the team do not drink at all, and those that do are responsible according to the players.
"We got all spring to do what we want," Small said. "Now is our time. Nobody needs to be out there drinking while we're trying to win football games. If you're dedicated, it shouldn't be a problem."
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