FAYETTEVILLE -- Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze had a tough call to make after starting senior quarterback Chad Kelly went down with a season-ending knee injury against Georgia Southern with three games left last year and the Rebels still in contention to qualify for a bowl.
The most talented quarterback left on the roster was Shea Patterson -- a five-star signee from Shreveport considered to be Kelly's replacement in 2017 -- but he sat out the first nine games with the intention of redshirting.
Should Freeze start Patterson and give his 4-5 team its best chance to win against Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Missisisppi State? Or should he preserve Patterson's redshirt so the quarterback of the future would have four seasons of eligibility remaining?
Freeze said when Patterson and his parents expressed a desire for him to play, it helped make the decision easier.
But playing Patterson -- who went 1-2 as the starter, with a victory at Texas A&M and losses to Vanderbilt and Mississippi State -- would have been a no-brainer for Freeze if a new rule proposal about first-year players and redshirting had been in effect.
Under current rules a player loses his redshirt if he participates in even one game, and a player who suffers an injury still loses his redshirt if he has played in three games.
The American Football Coaches Association is pushing for a rule change that would allow a true freshman to play as many as four games without losing his redshirt.
If approved by the NCAA Division I Council and Football Oversight Committee, the rule could take effect as early as the 2018 season.
"Allowing four games as a first-year player without counting against you would be pretty significant," University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Bret Bielema said. "I think it will really help all of us."
Freeze understandably is a big fan.
"I love the new proposal that's out there," Freeze said. "I think it's a very positive change that we need to make."
Bielema and Freeze are among several SEC coaches expressing support for the rule, one benefit of which would be giving players an opportunity to contribute early in the season without the threat of losing a redshirt year.
"On the front end, you may have a kid that you feel is ready to play, and maybe after a couple of games you realize it's too big for him," Bielema said. "But you'd give kids a chance to get into it."
The new redshirt rule also could assist with depth at various times in the season, especially if a specific position is depleted by injuries.
"A guy might be needed strictly because of the scholarship numbers and the roster count," Bielema said. "There were several examples of that in our league last year, where guys were needed and you were out of numbers."
As recently as 2001 teams played 11 regular-season games. Now teams play 12 regular-season games, some play a conference championship game, and there are 39 bowl games in addition to a four-team playoff.
Alabama and Clemson each played a 15th game when the Tigers beat the Crimson Tide 35-31 to win the national championship last season.
While games have increased, scholarship limits have held firm at 85.
"With the numbers we have right now and the number of games we're playing, you might be able to play a few more players in some of those games," Alabama Coach Nick Saban said of the redshirt proposal. "That would help other players on your team as well.
"The No. 1 thing is it would tremendously help the development of some young players on your team to be able to look forward to playing some games but not lose the year.
"You eliminate some of these things where a guy plays for five plays in a game, and you've got to appeal to get his year back because you either made a mistake putting him in the game or you thought he was going to play more and he didn't."
Florida Coach Jim McElwain said he'd like to see the rule changed to the extent where players are eligible for five seasons.
"With the rules, no one ever asks me what I think anyway," McElwain said. "We're going to do what they tell us, but why not just let them play and give them five years of eligibility?"
Maybe that will happen down the line, but for now other SEC coaches said they'd be excited for freshmen to be able to play in four games and have four seasons of eligibility left.
"I'd love it," LSU Coach Ed Orgeron said. "You can figure those guys out in those first four games, and it adds to your roster, adds to your rotation, adds to your development of your team.
After LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey each sat out his team's bowl game last season to get ready for the NFL Draft -- both were first-round choices -- Vanderbilt Coach Derek Mason said being able to play freshmen could become more important.
"Is that going to be a future trend?" Mason said. "I don't know. But as we move forward, coaches have to prepare for guys who may be draft-worthy possibly not playing in postseason games."
Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn said the rule change would be more fair to players and allow them to get in games when they show they're ready.
"As a coach, sometimes you've got to make quick decisions in fall camp," Malzahn said. "I think this will give everyone more information and not hurt the player as much."
Saban said it would be good for freshmen to at least have a shot to play and not lose eligibility.
"One of the most difficult things for players is they can't play at all when they're freshmen to be able to gain a redshirt year," Saban said. "They all want to play."
Missouri played 10 true freshmen last season, and Tigers Coach Barry Odom said it's debatable whether he would have played more if a new redshirt rule was in place.
But like his SEC coaching peers, Odom is in favor of the rule change.
"Moving forward, when you get the depth a little bit more like it needs to be, it could be a luxury not only for your program but also for the development of your kids," Odom said. "To the point that you think he's ready to go play, at whatever point it is during the season, then you've got the decision to make.
"There's some merit to that."
Sports on 05/31/2017