College Football
The NCAA recently announced a major change to the college football redshirt policy that I see as a positive for coaches and the players as teams learn how best to utilize the new redshirt rule.
A majority of the time an incoming freshman football player will redshirt his first collegiate season. He is ineligible to compete in game action, but doesn’t forfeit a year of eligibility. He is able to go through spring, summer and fall workouts, weight training, film sessions and other team activities. But on game day he is left standing on the sidelines in his uniform.
The NCAA’s new guidelines would change all that. Incoming freshmen would be eligible to participate in up to four contests without losing eligibility.
In a word, this could be huge for a lot of teams.
Injuries Could Be Handled More Effectively With New Redshirt Rule
During a 12-13 game season, teams find themselves inundated with injuries at key positions, which either forces a coach to play athletes out of position or “burn” a freshman’s redshirt. This costs the school future depth and costs the player a season of meaningful playing time.
It’s honestly not fair for either side.
New Redshirt Rule Would Eliminate “Emergency” QBs
There are years in which teams end up playing more than two signal callers, whether due to injury or ineffectiveness. In those instances, coaches often identify an “emergency quarterback,” likely a wide receiver or running back who played quarterback in high school, that can manage a limited number of plays to finish a game.
It makes a whole lot more sense to bring in a freshman that may be redshirting to get him some valuable in-game experience, even if he’s also operating with a limited playbook.
