The possibility of Jack Sawyer, TreVeyon Henderson and other early enrollees immediately playing in college football games when they arrive on campus in January appears to be off the table.
West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons, the chair of the NCAA's Division I Football Oversight Committee, told Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press and ESPN's Heather Dinich on Thursday that it will not recommend allowing early enrollees to play if college football teams play this spring.
Although Ohio State coach Ryan Day was a vocal proponent of allowing midyear enrollees to play if the Big Ten plays a winter season beginning in January, there was reportedly not widespread support for the idea.
Pac-12 and B1G coaches - along with their mid-year enrollees - were hoping for this, but it was always a long shot.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 4, 2020
Wrote about it last week - https://t.co/NR5PlC9G5r https://t.co/qmC8whAImy
That'll come as disappointing news for incoming Buckeyes like Sawyer, who opted out of his senior season at Pickerington North High School with hopes of playing for Ohio State in a winter or spring season.
Per Dinich, the Football Oversight Committee will also recommend a spring season model that will allow teams to play eight-game seasons in the spring and hold 15 practices over 29 days – as they would typically get in the spring – this fall. Conferences who start their seasons later this fall and finish their seasons in the spring will be allowed to play more than eight games, but all postponed seasons will have to be played within a 13-week window, not including potential spring bowl games.
The Football Oversight Committee is also recommending an extension of the recruiting dead period through October, as well as an elimination of the fall evaluation period.
All of those recommendations will be voted on by the Division I Council on Sept. 16.
