Ok, we just have to cap this stuff. COVID was 2020, and we used to have redshirt rules, and now all hell has broken loose, and it’s dumb.
Cam McCormick was granted a 9th year of college football eligibility and will suit up for the Miami Hurricanes again this season. And that’s cute and all, and I get that he had four, count them four, different season-ending injuries, but enough is enough. I feel for the kid, I do. But he was in the same recruiting class as Jalen Hurts, who is now a four-year veteran on his second NFL contract after playing four seasons of college football. How is a dude still in college who was in the same high school class as Hurts, Rashan Gary, Nick Bosa, Ed Oliver, and others competing in the NFL playoffs? Heck, Bosa has a season ending injury in college and has been an NFL pro for five full seasons. And this dude is going to run it back for year nine? Nah.
What if McCormick gets injured again? Does the NCAA give him a 10th year? And an 11th after that? A hard cap is needed for eligibility, and it’s needed now.
My proposal is simple now that the extra COVID year of eligibility is finally in the rearview mirror for the most part. I’ll put it very simply — you have five years to play college football, that’s it. That includes any and all redshirts — injury or otherwise — and the rare loss of a transfer year. I’m giving you five years, so that’s a bonus, but you don’t get anything beyond that. If you aren’t ready for the NFL and all that and you’re still matriculating towards a degree, bachelor’s or master’s, play for five years. I don’t care. If you’re great and a three-and-out sends you to the NFL, that’s cool. If four years is enough for you or your program, great, and if you want to be a five-year college football player, I’m fine with that. But under my proposal, you will never, ever see a dude play in his sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth season of college football. This isn’t a career, and high school football recruiting is already being swallowed whole by the transfer portal and endless years of eligibility. We don’t need to make it worse.
Call me whatever you want, and defend a ninth season of college football if you want, but you’re wrong. There is a beginning, middle, and end to everything, and nine years of college football isn’t the end anyone needs or wants. It’s time we said no to this generation of college football players just once.
