No more redshirts. No more waivers.
Just five years of eligibility in five years – take it or leave it.
Consider Jason Eck a fan.
“I think it’s gonna be a good change,” New Mexico’s second-year head coach said Thursday.
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Wednesday, the NCAA approved a landmark age-based eligibility policy allowing athletes five years to play five seasons starting with their full-time enrollment or the season after their 19th birthday, whichever comes first.
A departure from the previous model granting four seasons of eligibility in five years, the change eliminates redshirts, giving athletes the chance to play the maximum number of games in any of their eligible seasons without penalty.
The waiver process used by athletes to secure additional years of eligibility will also be discontinued with the new policy; extended eligibility will only be granted for athletes’ religious missions, military service or maternity leave.
Athletes who ran out of eligibility in spring 2026 under the previous rules will not gain an additional year under what’s colloquially known as the “5-for-5 rule.”
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Eck has been in favor of the change since it was first taken under consideration this spring. The former Idaho coach pointed to how it solves the “mess” he’s seen over the last few years, with coaches worrying about players possibly holding themselves out after four game appearances to try and preserve their redshirt year.
“My last year at Idaho, we had a guy — a starter — say, ‘yeah, I wanna redshirt,’” he said. “We had to counsel him and talk him out of it … It’s been an issue most of the years I’ve been a head coach, so I think it’s a good change.”
Eck added that he believes it’s a positive to get away from the “hit or miss” waiver system that dictated additional years of eligibility.
“It’s cleaner,” he said. “I think it’ll keep your freshmen more engaged, because you can hopefully find a role for some of those guys. In the past, maybe you didn’t want to use their year just to run down the kickoff.
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“Now … (they) can have any role. You can start on the punt team, start on the kickoff team, start on the PAT team.”
While UNM has benefited from waivers — backup quarterback James Laubstein is returning to the team after winning an appeal to the NCAA for one — the program would stand to benefit from the new policy, too. With the change, Eck said around upwards of a dozen players would receive extra years, including “true” four-year seniors like linebacker Jaxton Eck and running back Scottre Humphrey.
Under the previous four-in-five eligibility policy, the two would be out of eligibility at the end of this season.
Steps to challenge the policy have already been taken, however. Wednesday, 15 college basketball players — former UNM men’s basketball player Filip Borovicanin among them — filed a lawsuit in an Ohio state court claiming the change “unjustifiably restrains their ability to earn money through use of their name, image, and likeness (‘NIL’).”
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On the football side, no major lawsuits have been filed yet. But former Lobo defensive end Brett Karhu — a four-year player who was unable to secure a fifth year through a waiver — indicated he would be interested in challenging the policy through the courts.
“Now that 5 for 5 is official it’s time to get a class of 2022 eligibility lawsuit for football players,” he posted Wednesday via X. If you are a class of 2022 (graduate) that has not played 5 years please (message) me. If you are a sports litigation attorney that would be interested in representing us (message) me as well.”
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.
