Dave Reardon: Get rid of redshirts, let student-athletes play 5 seasons

Sometimes it takes trauma for the world to change for the better.

When people talk about the “new normal” of what everyday life might eventually become, it seems in some cases we were already headed that way. We just needed a little push toward real progress.

Of course, the impetus for improvement shouldn’t have been a pandemic. Too often, efficiency for efficiency’s sake loses out to inertia and what some people like to call tradition.

One example is work. Because the situation demanded it, more people were forced to do their jobs from home more often instead of wasting time, gas and patience commuting, in some cases hours, every day to and from an office. Of course most workers and students of all ages benefit from some social interaction, and isolation can be as debilitating as illness.

I’m not here to debate any of that; it’s just my way of getting to how the NCAA got something right (shocking, but true), and should make it a permanent rule. I’m talking about super seniors.

If you recall, super seniors are the result of college athletes being granted an additional year of eligibility because so many of them lost one due to COVID-19.

Student-athletes benefited, and so did fans. If you follow University of Hawaii sports, you might agree that Brooke Van Sickle and Calvin Turner Jr. were the two most exciting performers at Manoa this fall.

If not for that extra year of eligibility they’d have both been done before their 2021 seasons started.

Van Sickle began her college career at Oregon in 2016. In 2017, she was granted a medical redshirt when an early injury wiped out her season. She played as a sophomore in 2018 before transferring to UH and playing as a junior in 2019, and got the extra season this year because of the pandemic in 2020.

She ended up playing four seasons (plus six matches prior to the injury in ’17) in six years and leads the Rainbow Wahine into the NCAA Tournament this week.

Turner is also a transfer, from Jacksonville, where he started as a defensive back as a true freshman in 2017. After the next two seasons as the Dolphins’ starting quarterback, Turner transferred to Hawaii when JU terminated its football program after the 2019 season. He played as a senior in 2020, and used the bonus year to play a fifth season this fall as a super senior.

One of the most versatile players in UH football history, Turner was announced as an invitee to the East-West Shrine Game on Tuesday.

So, how would a super senior rule work in the new normal?

Simple. No freshman redshirts.

It’s actually not a new idea, at all.

Back in 2004, one of the hot topics of conversation at the Western Athletic Conference preseason media event was an NCAA proposal that everyone get five years to play five seasons.

It didn’t pass, but the WAC coaches at the time all said they liked the idea.

“The biggest thing is it would be a cost-saver,” Rice coach Ken Hatfield said. “Let’s say eight true freshmen play. Four years later we’re still paying their way through school, and they can’t even come out and be on the scout team. It would take away exceptions and exemptions and be fair across the board. It makes sense to me.”

Same here. Remember late in the 2018 season, when there was this huge debate over whether Chevan Cordeiro should burn his redshirt year? He ended up appearing in four games and was instrumental in two wins as a true freshman. Eligibility used? Zero. It certainly was exciting and enjoyable for UH fans, but it made no sense.

By eliminating the redshirt option for freshmen you lose all the confusing and artificial permutations of playing less than a certain percentage of games in order to not be charged a year of eligibility.

In the case of serious injuries at any time during their careers, athletes could still appeal to the NCAA to replace a lost season.

These days, with the explosion of club sports for elite youth athletes, more and more freshmen arrive on college campuses ready to compete and play right away, whatever the sport.

Academically, college freshmen (and not just student-athletes) often face a huge adjustment.

According the the National Center for Education Statistics, the median number of months it takes college students to earn a bachelor’s degree is 52. That’s four years, plus a semester.

If we account for the incredible time and energy demands on student-athletes — which some claim (rightfully, in my opinion) are as much as a full-time job — graduating within five years is quite a feat.

Those who do finish in four years could play a fifth season while working on a master’s — at the same school or somewhere else.

It’s time to burn everybody’s redshirt, permanently.