NCAA’s new redshirt rule a hot topic at Big 12 Media Days

FRISCO – The new rule implemented by the NCAA allowing players to play in four games in a season while redshirting that year was a hot topic during Big 12 media days at the Ford Center .

It used to be that the rule was that an athlete had to give up their red shirt as soon as they entered a game, even for a single moment. Now coaches have much more freedom to decide how to handle freshmen, a complicated depth chart and mounting injuries.

Baylor coach Matt Rhule believes the new policy could precipitate a “seismic shift” in the world of college football.

“I think it’s an important rule change and especially in the situation we’re in as we rebuild the roster, we need to take huge advantage of it, in different ways,” Rhule said. “To give the guys some experience going into their sophomore season. We have some guys who, because of things that have happened over the last couple of years, have had to play and a redshirt year would benefit them at the both physically and academically and would ensure we are healthy throughout the period.

“The situation we were in last year with all the injuries we had last year, we definitely could have used it. For me, it’s not about having every kid play four games , but making sure we find the right four matches and using guys very systematically. way.”

Texas’ Tom Herman recognized how helpful this would have been before the 2017 Texas Bowl, when the Longhorns were without several key players due to injury, suspension or preparing for the NFL Draft.

Tight end Andrew Beck could have returned after missing the regular season due to injury, but he was held out in order to preserve his remaining eligibility. Offensive lineman Elijah Rodriguez returned to play in the bowl after missing UT’s first 12 games, but under this new rule he wouldn’t have had to give up a year of eligibility to do so.

But Herman wasn’t sure how he would take advantage of the NCAA Division I Council’s new mandate.

“I think it’s a deal, because it happens,” Herman said. “If you get picked on early in the season at different positions and you know these guys are going to be back in four or five weeks, you play some of these kids and then you put them back on the board.

“Ideally, I think you’d like to wait until the end of the year when you know, historically, that you’re going to be pretty beat up and exhausted.”

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said the longer leash given to redshirt players was a “good, positive step for college football.”

“I don’t know if people on the outside or maybe even us on the inside understand how different this rule is,” Riley said Monday. “How different the game is going to be, the strategy behind it. I think it’s going to be fun. I think it’s a good rule.

“We found ourselves in some tricky situations last year in the playoffs where if there was an injury here or there, we would have had to redshirt a guy. So this takes that out of the equation, which is good . It’s the right thing for gamers. and it gives you the flexibility to use these games however you want.”