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Prior to the 2018 college football season, coaches voted on a new rule that would dramatically change the way redshirts were used across the sport.
Rather than players burning a year of eligibility if they appeared in a singular game throughout the season, players would now be allowed to play in up to four games before revoking their redshirt status. That rule was later amended to state that postseason games did not count among those four games.
So, in theory, a player could play in up to nine games in the current format and still maintain their redshirt status. Well, now that number is likely to increase dramatically, all but killing the idea of redshirting at all.
College Football Coaches Vote To Increase Redshirt Game Limit To Nine
David Ubben of The Athletic reports that FBS coaches voted unanimously at the annual American Football Coaches Association’s convention in Charlotte to increase to threshold for a redshirt from four games to nine.
The FBS head coaches voted unanimously to expand the eligibility for redshirt years from four games to nine.
This is just a recommendation that will be put forth to the Division I committees.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) January 13, 2026
Presuming that postseason play still does not count against that number, it means that players could participate in a total of 14 games without having to burn a year of eligibility!
This comes after reports over the last year stated that the NCAA is examining eliminating redshirts altogether and allowing college athletes five years to complete five seasons.
However, as Chris Vannini of The Athletic posted on X, the NCAA may well be hesitant to move in that direction because, like with NIL, it could lead to several lawsuits from players who didn’t get to play a fifth full year.
Now, rules change. And in a normal world, the judges would determine that that’s just the rub of the green, and while it’s unfortunate for past athletes, that’s just how life goes sometimes.
However, time and again, we’ve seen lawyers and athletes appeal to friendly state courts in order to benefit the local universities.
So, with the new rule, redshirts are more or less a thing of the past entirely. Even if the NCAA refuses to come out and say as much.