Posted by: Chris Vannini on August 19, 2012

The issue of concussions has been at the forefront of football recently, and Villanova coach Andy Talley has had to face it firsthand, as six of his players have suffered head injuries in the preseason.

It has taken a toll on what is expected to be a good, experienced team, but Talley would rather the players be healthy before going back on the field. He says the research and subsequent treatment of concussions will change college football in the coming years.

"We have 20 starters back, and I really thought we were going to have a good team. I still hope we can, but preseason has just been brutal, and the concussion issue is really out there right now," he told Sirius XM on Saturday. "We've had six of them in preseason, and it doesn't take much. I think the protocol is excellent, but people now are very much more aware of that.

"Pretty much, if you lose a player in a ball game now with a concussion, you're probably going to miss him the next week. I think it's going to change the face of college football a little bit, because it's really on the cutting edge right now, and it's a good thing. But we've got some kids that are banged up in preseason."

Asked if he had college-aged kids and would let them play, Talley said he would be comfortable with them playing college football, as long as the school had the best interest of the player in mind.

"You've really got to go through a lot of care," Talley said of the recovery process. "You've got to do a computer program and they test you and a doc has to give you to go-ahead. I think that rewards are great; the helmet protocol is excellent.

"I think what's happened is it's just a bigger, faster sport now. The kids are so much bigger, stronger and faster, but I wouldn't have any concerns about my kids playing football as long as I knew that the program they were involved with really cared about the bottom line, which is the health and safety and also graduation of a player."

Listen to Talley's interview here.

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Chris Vannini is a lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com