A Growing Sentiment in Big Ten for Review of Freshman Eligibility

Northwestern football Coach Dennis Green tells the story of one of his promising freshman football players who had an unusual conception of what college life was like.

Green explains that his unnamed player had come to school a full six weeks before classes actually began because Northwestern had an early start for fall practice.

“He got used to sleeping late, watching the soap operas in the afternoon, practicing for a couple of hours and then going out for dinner,” Green recalls. “He got quite a shock when it came time for classes to begin.”

Freshmen adapting to college is always difficult, even for the best scholar-athletes. Green’s point was that even with the best preparation, freshmen have enough problems just getting used to college life with academic requirements without having to worry about playing football.

There is a growing sentiment, at least in the academically oriented Big Ten, to review whether freshmen should be eligible for varsity football.

The emphasis is football. The argument that freshmen should be barred from all varsity sports has also been brought up, but there are certain nuances involved in football that make it a special case.

Last month, University of Illinois president Stanley Ikenberry said the conference schools are working on a plan to bar freshmen from all sports competition. He said a committee that includes faculty members and athletic directors has been instructed to bring to Big Ten presidents a plan for the elimination of freshmen in athletic competition.

Football coaches interviewed agree some type of review, possibly action, was needed.

“I would agree that there are some pressures with football with our spring practices and then the football practices in the fall that make it extremely difficult on first-year players,” said Illinois Coach Mike White, who has often preferred junior college transfers to freshmen.

Freshmen who have to come to school weeks before classes begin have little problem working football into their schedule. The problems come when classes begin.

“I know in our case, we have to arrange for tutors for road trips or our players fall behind,” Green added.

Some coaches contend the opening weeks of a semester are often more trying than at any time in a student’s career. Restricting them to a freshmen or junior varsity schedule would at least allow them an opportunity to keep up with their classes. Green notes you cannot force a student to study but providing as much chance as possible for study and classes should be an object of an athletic program.

Then why not basketball?

Basketball coaches argue that practices cannot start until Oct. 15, usually weeks after a semester begins. More important, freshmen have an overwhelmingly greater chance to have an impact on a varsity Division I program in basketball than in football.

The numbers game in football makes it difficult for a freshmen to have a chance to make a significant contribution, at least on the major college level.

“I know there is a tendency to redshirt most of your talented players anyway,” Green says. “Why not just let them sit out like everyone else and let them play a freshmen schedule? Then you get away from the traumas of redshirting and five-year stays for college students.”

Most college football teams have at least 40 players. They require more rigorous preparation for a game than basketball players. Some coaches, like Minnesota’s Lou Holtz who has been outspoken on the issue of restricting freshmen, note freshmen obviously cannot participate in spring practice, meaning by the time they get to school they are already weeks behind in preparation to their upperclassmen teammates.

“The question of conformity has entered into it,” said Big Ten Commissioner Wayne Duke. “We were one of the last to go along with the redshirting but we had to do it to keep up with the other conferences and be competitive.”

If all schools were to go back and vote to make freshmen ineligible, it might also tend to reduce recruiting irregularities such as transcript altering. It might also reduce the temptation to establish phony courses to keep a prospect eligible.

Naturally, some blue-chip freshmen football players could be deprived of an opportunity to play for the varsity. But for every Tony Dorsett of Pittsburgh, there are hundreds of others who either ride the bench, play only on the scout teams in practice or are redshirted.

Some coaches argue the player’s time could be better spent refining their skills on the freshmen level, and spending more time in classrooms without the added pressure of keeping up with the varsity practice schedule.