Nebraska football: The good and the bad of a proposed red-shirt rule change
The Nebraska football team would be both burdened and aided if a rule change proposed by the ACC regarding red-shirts manages to make it through.
It’s a safe bet that the Nebraska football program, as well as other programs across the country agree there needs to be a change to the red-shirt rule. In the day and age when kids are getting 5th and 6th years anyway why not let it be automatic?
That is essentially what a proposed rule change by the ACC would do. Their rule change, pitched last week, would make it quite a bit easier for players to keep that 5th-year eligibility.
The ACC conference, according to College Football Talk, wants to make it so that players can play in any four games, and keep their red-shirt eligibility. They would be able to still claim the year they played in four games as a redshirt year, as long as they only played in four games.
The ACC has proposed (for everyone) to allow players to play in any four games and still count for a redshirt. The AFCA has been pushing for this. Would be effective next year and not retroactive. #AFCA2018
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) January 9, 2018
That’s a big step up from the current rule, which allows players to make one appearance. That one appearance usually has to be early in the season as well.
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Players can’t sit out all season, then play in the bowl game, and come back the next year as a freshman. At least that’s not the spirit of the current rule.
With the proposed change, a player could sit out almost the entire season, then play the team’s last four games and come back the next year without losing a season of eligibility.
The rule is expected to be discussed this spring, possibly in March. If it moves forward from the initial steps it could be ratified in April.
The change would not be retroactive, but would be effective starting in the 2018 season. While the rule, on its face is a very good one, there are some drawbacks. There are also some big benefits for a school and a program like Nebraska football.