The relaxation of both the rules regarding redshirts and limitations surrounding the transfer portal has given rise to a new phenomenon in college football over the last few years.
Now, players who have not seen action in more than four games are allowed to take a redshirt year, which doesn’t count against their eligibility. Factoring in the fact that players are now also granted a one-time transfer with immediate eligibility, it’s not hard to put two and two together.
If your season isn’t going the way you want it to, there’s nothing to stop you from entering the transfer portal before the fifth game of the year, preserving that year of eligibility and heading for greener pastures. And that’s the exact decision several SMU players have reportedly made.
As was first reported by On3 and later confirmed by the Dallas News, senior safety Chase Cromartie and sophomore receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. will sit out the remainder of the season. On3 reported that a pair of sophomores in safety Isaac Nwokobia and receiver Jayleen Record will do the same, though that was not corroborated by the Dallas News.
A development in a new era of college football.
Multiple SMU players plan to sit out the rest of season with intention to preserve their redshirt year and enter the transfer portal, multiple SMU staff members with knowledge of the situation said.https://t.co/lCGlyKJz90
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) October 3, 2022
SMU, which is 2-2, will play its fifth game of the season on Wednesday night at UCF in a contest that was rescheduled from this past weekend due to Hurricane Ian.
As mentioned above, this situation is far from unprecedented. Just last week, longtime Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier announced his plans to do the same. On an individual basis, it’s fairly common.
But seeing several players on one team choose to do so is a bit uncommon.
In 2019, Houston coach Dana Holgorsen planned to have a number of key players sit out, but the purpose was to maintain their eligibility for the future, a strategy that ultimately backfired when star quarterback D’Eriq King chose to use his remaining eligibility at Miami, instead.
In this situation, it’s a bit bizarre. The Mustangs are in Year 1 of a new coaching tenure under Rhett Lashlee, a former SMU offensive coordinator who most recently held the same role at Miami. If the transfers were the result of the coaching change, these players had the opportunity to make their exits back in the spring.
At the end of the day, this is just another example of the new ways that players are empowered to take advantage of the small degree of control they do have when it comes to their college football destinies.
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