I know this should have been an offseason topic

but, what do you guys think of BYU football not assigning red shirts until year 4 of a player's career?



This is very similar to what Notre Dame does. They evaluate their seniors who still have eligibility left at the end of the year (ie, didn't play as a Fr and or Soph), and ask those back that could help them. There are very few 5th year seniors at ND.

Past ND FB administrations didn't allow any red shirt players. I hadn't even noticed that they were now making exceptions.



It's kind of apples and oranges because they don't deal with missionaries returning. Most are opting to go out right away and then come back to BYU, but traditionally it was noted that most mission rust needs a good year to oil away.

These players want college football to be treated more like a business. I feel like this is more like that, you're only going to get that 5th year if you're actually considered a top contributor.

That makes the most sense. You have to weigh a 5th year senior vs signing another recruit. I think if they are in the two deep, keep them an extra year.

Bronco did it to make players work harder on the scout team, you have to earn your redshirt year. If you don't work hard, you don't get to redshirt.

Thanks for your opinions on the matter. I tend to agree with a lot of what was said above. I also think it pushes non-contributors out of the program (only have 105 spots and 85 scholarships).



I would, however, hope that those that don't get the 5th year are somehow able to get scholarship help for a 5th year (not from the football team) because most people take 5 years to get a degree.