NCAA DI Board of Directors recommends to advance age-based eligibility rules

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors is recommending the Division I Cabinet move forward with a new age-based eligibility concept that would give student-athletes five years of eligibility. The concept must still be adopted before it becomes official.

But the new model would allow student-athletes up to five years of eligibility beginning the regular academic year after they turn 19 or graduate from high school, whichever happens earlier. It’s a proposal that has been gaining steam in recent weeks.

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“The time is now to reform the period of eligibility rules to provide Division I student-athletes and our schools clear and consistent standards that align with current college athletes’ experiences,” said Tim Sands, president at Virginia Tech and chair of the Division I Board of Directors. “The board fully supports student-athletes receiving the unprecedented financial benefits now available to them and emphasized these changes would protect opportunities for high school student-athletes to access the benefits only college sports can provide, while delivering predictable outcomes for student-athletes and our schools.”

Perhaps the most interesting note from an NCAA press release announcing the recommendation is that the board does not support grandfathering existing student-athletes into the five-for-five eligibility model. Instead, student-athletes competing in the 2025-26 academic year will be bound by the four seasons of competition in five years of eligibility rule.

Coaches have been wondering whether existing athletes might be grandfathered in, so this is significant roster news. It would prevent one-time roster limit exemptions, too, such as the ones that happened following COVID-19.

“The new age-based model produced by the Cabinet and discussed by the board today is a great step forward in simplifying and stabilizing college sports, especially football. In addition to clearly defining an age range of college players, it allows student-athletes to compete over the entirety of their eligibility period,” said Sam Edwards, a football student-athlete at Michigan State and member of the board.

“This makes a world of sense in football for coaches and players alike, especially in the context of roster limits, where coaches can now use their entire roster without worrying about ‘saving’ a subset of players for redshirts. In a sport where many young players come in ready to contribute to varying degrees and in different phases of the game, this new eligibility landscape will be good for the game,” Edwards said.

In addition, the NCAA expressed support for a proposal to maintain Division I core guarantees, including degree-completion funding for up to 10 years after a student-athlete’s eligibility expires if they have not yet earned a degree. The NCAA Division I Cabinet will next meet in May to further discuss the proposal.

Some coaches express support for eligibility change

Many coaches seem to be a fan of the new eligibility proposal. Ohio State‘s Ryan Day recently came out in favor of it. So, too, did Ole Miss‘ Pete Golding.

“Yeah, I mean obviously it’s been talked about for a long time,” Golding told reporters recently. “So we’ll see if it comes to fruition. I think the concept’s a great concept, not, ‘Hey here’s four games and then, all right, here’s the nine-game component of it.’ I think it allows guys to come in — am I redshirting, am I not redshirting — to really develop, quit focusing on all those things.”

It would certainly make scholarship math and roster projections a little easier for coaches. One of the main factors driving decisions right now is retaining eligibility.

Having some players watching how many games they play in before potentially hitting the transfer portal can be tough on coaches. The new eligibility standard could be implemented by the start of the 2026-27 school year. With that, it would eliminate redshirts and waivers entirely, barring very specific exceptions.

The way Day sees it, especially in football, it makes the most sense. He joined Sirius XM recently to explain why he is in favor.

“I think it’s the right thing to do, for sure,” Day said. “To think that the rule has been the last few years where you can play in four games, but not a fifth. You can play in (a postseason) game. I just think, you know, at the end of the day, we should just let them play five for five. And I do also agree with that part of it, there needs to be some sort of a cap in terms of age.

“And I know that we’re all trying to, you know, put more and more of these guidelines together. It’s a very, very competitive environment, and everybody’s going to do everything they can to try to find a competitive advantage and edge. So I think that this is a good idea, for sure.”

On3’s Nick Kosko also contributed to this report.