Question, you currently get 25 scholarships per year up to a max of 85. With Covid and the Portal, has the NCAA released any new rules? For example, if 8 players leave and enters the portal, can we go sign or replace those 8 IF we have already signed 25 players?
Nope, nothing has changed, and it is becoming a problem, imo. I think this is something that desperately needs to be addressed in the very near future. As it is today, you cannot replace those players outside of your 25 player signing class. There are more and more ways for players to leave, but no means for coaches to make up those losses. Roster management is becoming more and more difficult.
So, theoretically you could have all 85 scholarship players leave through the portal and could only replace 25 in the next signing class?
Yep. Of course it won't happen, but theoretically it could. If it ever happened, a coach could appeal to the NCAA & ask for "Special Circumstances" ruling & assistance. As far as I know, Marshall is the only school to have such a ruling, when they lost most of their team in that 1970 plane crash. Wichita State had a less casualties crash in '70, right before Marshall & stopped playing football all together.
This problem has been around for a few years now and is the reason we have the 2019 Natty. LSU almost could not play due to this starting to show up last year during Covid protocols plus the players we are short now from transfers. Not sure of the exact number. Keep in mind this is mostly self inflicted wounds by taking grad transfers, but its a two sided coin we have had just as many transfer outs. Things need to change for sure, I wonder when we have a mass exodus from a team that affects their ability to play football. Luckily there is a soft limit on the other end, teams can't just infinitely take transfers due to the 25 class limit. There are 1000s of players in the portal with no where to go.
