Monday, August 26, 2002
Ditch the redshirt?
Movement afoot to gives college athletes five years of playing eligibility
By David Jones
Florida Today
MELBOURNE, Fla. — Some grumblings have started in various conferences about a possible proposal forthcoming to the NCAA executive committee which would allow college athletes five years of eligibility.
Under the current system, student-athletes can take a redshirt year and have five years to play four seasons. But under the idea being bounced around in different conferences, that clock would be smashed forever. The redshirt rule would be waived.
The theory is, it usually takes athletes five years to get a college degree, anyway, because of the strain on academics caused by the athletic schedule.
The redshirt year was created largely to give football and basketball players an extra year to mature — usually taken advantage of by freshmen.
But coaches and some administrators are starting to argue in the other direction — allowing athletes to play five years instead of four would actually give them more time to grow and develop on and off the playing fields.
From the school's point of view, with many programs feeling the financial crunch, it only makes sense to get a return for the investment of scholarship dollars in every way possible.
Virtually every SEC football coach is in favor of the five-year concept.
“That ought to be a no-brainer, let them play,” Arkansas' Houston Nutt said. “We're still paying (for scholarships). Right now, I have a guy that played for four years and now we're going to pay for a fifth year. Let them have five years. That makes all the difference in the world.
“Then you wouldn't have to worry about the redshirt and all that, you just go.”
Some coaches aren't sure the five-year rule is without warts, though.
“I don't know what we'd do with some of the records,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “You know, all of a sudden there's a fifth-year player and he's got all kinds of career yardage and then you've got guys who play just three years, and guys who are playing four.
“So if you do a fifth year, I don't know what you'd call them: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, senior citizen.”
Of course, many athletes are leaving for the pro ranks after just a year or two. In Richt's language, that would be freshman, sophomore, pro. Or in many cases, redshirt, freshman, pro.
Realistically, getting their degree wasn't a priority.
But for marginal pro athletes, realizing they have that fifth year to play and also earn a degree could keep many of them in college longer.
“I've spent more time talking to those guys about trying to get them to finish school,” Louisiana State coach Nick Saban said.
While it's very doubtful the NCAA will ever go along with a fifth year of eligibility, it does make sense in many ways. Other coaches argue the extra year would enable many freshmen to get a little bit of experience early, so they'd be more comfortable the following year.
Coaches wouldn't be as hesitant to give first-year players some playing time, knowing they weren't blowing a year of eligibility. And while coaches in other sports are sometimes critical of football's 85 scholarships, when you do the math, it's easy to understand the concerns.
Unlike other sports, there are 22 starters, plus a punter and a kicker. If teams are three-deep on offense and defense, that's 66 scholarships. Add in a handful of specialty players (kickers, return men) and most teams are over 70 players that are often used during the season.
Throw in several injuries and another handful of players who become unhappy and transfer, and suddenly the depth becomes very thin at some positions.
Yet, a lot of coaches force themselves to bite the bullet rather than throw a true freshman on the field and burn a year of eligibility.
“I'm all for keeping players in college as long as we possibly can,” Florida coach Ron Zook said. “Sometimes people don't understand that at this level it's a little bit different game: Do you go (to the NFL), do you stay in (college) or what?
“There's a small percentage of guys that come out early that everything goes right for them, and there's a larger percentage that things don't go well for them. So I'm all for that being able to keep them in college longer.”
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Ditch the redshirt?
