TCU News: “This is just something you come up with and say, ‘Let’s give it a shot.’”

Football:

Could a new helmet face shield help save the college football season | The Athletic

Splash shields?... might as well try it.

With just weeks until the scheduled start of the college football season, everyone involved in the sport faces a serious time crunch. Schutt had a quick turnaround on the product out of necessity. The company began work in May, announced the shield in early June and said orders would head out in July. When TCU assistant athletic director for football equipment Brian Coutras got the email about it, he moved quickly.

“There was no opportunity to do any (research and development),” Coutras said. “This is just something you come up with and say, ‘Let’s give it a shot.’”

TCU is one of many schools that have expressed interest. As of July 1, Schutt said around 50 Division I football programs had put in orders for the shields. The NFL and many high school organizations are also in talks with Schutt, and the NCAA has been consulted throughout the process. NCAA chief medical officer Brian Hainline said Schutt is the only helmet manufacturer making face shields right now.

Area recruiting update: Texas has national top-10 class, but OU continues to surge; SMU tops TCU, Texas Tech | Dallas Morning News

The Frogs’ class will be small, so don’t expect them to be highly ranked. But it’s looking like a great group early.

TCU

- No. 82 class nationally in total points (90.26)

- 6 commitments

- 6 three stars

- 85.85 average rating

- Top-rated recruit: Wichita Falls Hirschi DE Chris Murray: Three stars (No. 594 nationally, 0.8681 rating)

Swimming:

NCAA D2 B-FINALIST BENNETT MACZKA WILL TRANSFER FROM QUEENS TO TCU | SwimSwam

Nice pickup for TCU swim.

Rising 6’6″ junior freestyler Bennett Maczka is transferring from NCAA Division II Queens University to Division I TCU next season. He has 2 years of eligibility remaining.

After missing the NCAA Championships as a freshman in 2019, in 2020 Macska qualified for the meet in the 200 free. The meet was ultimately canceled midway through the 2nd day of competition with the oncoming coronavirus pandemic.

On day 2 of the meet, Maczka placed 10th in the 200 free, qualifying for the B-final. He was also scheduled to swim the 100 free individually, where he was the 32nd seed.

Maczka attended Pearce High School in Plano, Texas, which is about 50 miles from the TCU campus. There, he was primarily a sprint freestyler, but at Queens he really progressed into more of a 100/200 yard swimmer, with his 200 free showing the most progress.

Around Campus:

TCU hoped to postpone commencement ceremonies to August. Now they’re canceled. | The Star-Telegram

This sucks for TCU grads... but it makes sense.

“We have spent the last three months planning, reimagining and doing everything in our power to create a safe event for our graduates and families to celebrate your incredible achievements,” TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. said in a video message. “We created a plan that followed all CDC, state and local guidelines. But, after meeting with public health department officials, we realized that the event, no matter how well planned, poses too much risk for our graduates, their families, friends and our campus community.”

TCU also canceled its “Senior Toast,” which had been scheduled for Aug. 7.

The ceremonies were expected to take place at Schollmaier Arena with 50% capacity.