Nebraska football: Redshirt rule change appears on track for passage

The Nebraska football team could look quite a bit different in the coming years if the redshirt rule change is adopted in time to take effect this fall.

The proposed redshirt rule change appears to be rolling towards reality. That is going to change the way the Nebraska football team and every other major college program does business.

This is a rule change that has been a few years in the making. The difference this year appears to be the widespread appeal.

Previously, coaches were the biggest proponents. College administrators and player advocates hadn’t gotten on board yet.

Nebraska Cornhuskers Football

Those groups appear to indeed be on board now. Mitch Sherman of ESPN did an informal poll at the NCAA Convention and he found people that appeared to want this rule and want it now.

The rule in question would allow for players to appear in up to four games in a season and still keep their redshirt eligibility. It’s safe to say there are arguments for and against this kind of change, but it’s attractive enough that schools are expected to approve it.

This would be the first major change to eligibility rules since roster sizes were dropped to 85 scholarships decades ago. For the Huskers, it would mean someone like Tre Bryant wouldn’t have to apply for medical hardship in order to get a year back.

Bryant appeared in three games before an injury ended his 2017 season. On the flip side, when this four game eligibility goes into effect, the medical hardship is expected to go away entirely.

Just how certain teams are going to use this rule, should it become reality will be interesting. Will they be getting more freshmen into games just to see what they can do?

Will they be holding freshmen back for the last four games of the year as a kind of secret weapon? It appears we’ll see what Scott Frost and the Nebraska football stuff have planned next season.