August 26, 2008

Inside the Game: What is a redshirt?

There has been a lot of attention paid recently to the college football term "redshirt", particularly in the wake of Cincinnati QB Ben Mauk's multiple appeals for a waiver to play a sixth season this year at Cincinnati. Which brings the question...

What is a redshirt in college football?

A "redshirt" is a compliance term used by coaches, athletic departments, and -- at times -- the NCAA, in reference to a player as not participating in competition during a particular athletic season.

There is no red jersey that a player must wear. There is no official "designation". There isn't even any paperwork to fill out. A player "becomes" a redshirt by not playing during the season.

Under NCAA rules, any player has five years to compete in any four seasons. Therefore, any player may take a year off ("redshirt") during his five years without losing a season of eligibility.

For example, if I enroll as a freshman at State U, I have five years in which to play in four football seasons. If the coaches feel that I am not ready or want to play other players ahead of me, they may hold me out of all the games my freshman year. Since I didn't play at all, my year of eligibility was not used. I have "redshirted". As a sophomore, I will now have four years remaining to complete my four years of athletic eligibility. Even though I am a sophomore, I will be referred to as a "redshirt freshman", because I have four full years of playing time remaining.

And while a redshirted player may participate in team activities such as practice, drills, and training, the NCAA guidelines say that a player who participates in even one play during a season will be considered to have "played" that season.

You should know that NCAA rules indicate that any competition, regardless of time, during a season counts as one of your seasons of competition in that sport. It does not matter how long you were involved in a particular competition (for example, one play in a football game, one point in a volleyball match); you will be charged with one season of competition.

The exception to the five-to-play-four rule comes when a player experiences a hardship, such as a season-ending injury. If an injury occurs in the first half of a season and the player has not played in more than 20% of his team's games, then the NCAA will consider granting a "medical redshirt" - a hardship exception to the eligibility rules.

An extra year of eligibility can also be granted via a "hardship waiver" if a student-athlete suffers an incapacitating injury or illness in the course of a season. The injury must occur during the first half of the season and the student-athlete, in Divisions I and II, must not have participated in more than two contests or 20% of the school's completed contests, whichever is greater.

In other words, if a player suffers a season-ending injury in a team's first game, the NCAA will review the incident and may proceed as if that player hadn't played at all that year - restoring one year's eligibility to be used the following season.

So... there you go... the long and the short of the college football term "redshirt".

Posted by Kevin Donahue

Comments:

Inside the Game: What is a redshirt?
There has been a lot of attention paid recently to the college football term "redshirt", particularly in the wake of Cincinnati QB Ben Mauk's multiple appeals for a waiver to play a sixth season this year at Cincinnati. Which brings the question...
What is a redshirt in college football?
A "redshirt" is a compliance term used by coaches, athletic departments, and -- at times -- the NCAA, in reference to a player as not participating in competition during a particular athletic season. There is no red jersey that a player must wear. There is no official "designation". There isn't even any paperwork to fill out. A player "becomes" a redshirt by not playing during the season. Under NCAA rules, any player has five years to compete in any four seasons. Therefore, any player may take a year off ("redshirt") during his five years without losing a season of eligibility. For example, if I enroll as a freshman at State U, I have five years in which to play in four football seasons. If the coaches feel that I am not ready or want to play other players ahead of me, they may hold me out of all the games my freshman year. Since I didn't play at all, my year of eligibility was not used. I have "redshirted". As a sophomore, I will now have four years remaining to complete my four years of athletic eligibility. Even though I am a sophomore, I will be referred to as a "redshirt freshman", because I have four full years of playing time remaining. And while a redshirted player may participate in team activities such as practice, drills, and training, the NCAA guidelines say that a player who participates in even one play during a season will be considered to have "played" that season.
You should know that NCAA rules indicate that any competition, regardless of time, during a season counts as one of your seasons of competition in that sport. It does not matter how long you were involved in a particular competition (for example, one play in a football game, one point in a volleyball match); you will be charged with one season of competition.
The exception to the five-to-play-four rule comes when a player experiences a hardship, such as a season-ending injury. If an injury occurs in the first half of a season and the player has not played in more than 20% of his team's games, then the NCAA will consider granting a "medical redshirt" - a hardship exception to the eligibility rules.
An extra year of eligibility can also be granted via a "hardship waiver" if a student-athlete suffers an incapacitating injury or illness in the course of a season. The injury must occur during the first half of the season and the student-athlete, in Divisions I and II, must not have participated in more than two contests or 20% of the school's completed contests, whichever is greater.
In other words, if a player suffers a season-ending injury in a team's first game, the NCAA will review the incident and may proceed as if that player hadn't played at all that year - restoring one year's eligibility to be used the following season. So... there you go... the long and the short of the college football term "redshirt".