Notre Dame has always been a little different when it comes to
the common college football practice of redshirting -- holding
first-year students out of competition to give them experience
and time to grow. As long as they don't appear in games, they
retain their full four years of eligibility. Most will eventually
enroll in classes for a fifth year so they can play that deferred
fourth year.
Most college coaches publically acknowledge redshirting but
not at Notre Dame. That's because Notre Dame does not automatically
give redshirted students permission to play. They can enroll for
a fifth year, but to play they need permission from the Faculty
Board on Athletics, which advises the president on educational
issues related to athletics..
The 15-member board -- consisting of elected and appointed faculty
members from each college, the athletic director, a representative
from the president's office and the director of Academic Services
for Student Athletes -- recently formalized some of its requirements
for fifth-year approval.
For one, a student athlete must carry at least nine course credits.
In the past the board had the discretion to approve a class schedule
of any size. Nine credits is still less than the minimum of 12
credits necessary to be considered a full-time student at Notre
Dame and qualify for on-campus living. The typical Notre Dame
student carries 15 credits per semester.
Another change is that a fifth-year player's classes no longer
have to be connected to the student's previous course of study.
In the past, a business major or new business graduate would have
to keep taking business courses. Now students have the flexibility
to take classes they might not have been able to fit into their
schedule before because of degree requirements.
"We just want to make sure that students remain engaged in the
University," Fernand "Tex" Dutile, chairman of the board, said
of the formalization of the requirements.
The new requirements also move up the timetable for applying
for a fifth year. In the past, only second-semester seniors could
apply. In the future, with the coach's permission, a student may
apply as early as second semester of junior year. This can help
better plan an academic schedule and spread requirements over
the next two years.
Dutile said he expected 14 or 15 students to apply for fifth-year
eligibility in 2002-03, most of them football players.
