Kirby Smart mentioned a few things that I think everyone needs to hear about the new redshirt rule.
This time he wasn’t explicitly asked about Justin Fields and how this new rule applies to him, but how will this affect his philosophy regarding the entire roster. Here is what Kirby Smart had to say when asked about the new rule change.
“I keep hearing the question, and I keep hearing other coaches answer it and everybody answer it. I really don’t think that it’s that hard. If a player can help you win, there’s no strategic advantage to it. The advantage is if you get to the end of the season and you’re depleted in an area, it gives you the luxury of playing a kid and him keeping his redshirt.
According to Smart, as long as a player can contribute immediately in some fashion, a redshirt is completely out of question. One thing that he said that is true about the new rule is the benefit of not having to burn a player’s redshirt year if you play them late in the season. The new rule allows them to play in up to four games while retaining eligibility.
Kirby’s primary concern is that he believes people aren’t looking at the bigger picture and get to caught up in a kid’s eligibility as if they all will stay 5 years.
“But I think a lot of people don’t study the end game,” Smart said. “The end game is all these kids’ senior year. So if a kid plays the last four games, and let’s say he plays all four of those games and then we say we’re going to redshirt him, and then the next — he still has four years of eligibility, right? I think after his third year of that eligibility, he will have been here four years. The guy is going to have graduated hopefully, have an opportunity to go to the NFL, or maybe if he’s not good enough to play or he’s been surpassed, he may be looking to transfer or leave. I don’t see many of these guys playing four games and then playing four years because if you look right now how many players are here five years, it doesn’t happen that often.”