Pitt's Pat Narduzzi said giving athletes a free year of eligibility makes sense

Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi said Friday giving fall athletes a free year of eligibility is “a no-brainer,” considering the questions hanging over college athletics.

The NCAA Division I board of directors voted Friday to approve a proposal to ensure that all athletes, whether they play in the fall or opt out because of covid-19 concerns, will not lose one of their four years of eligibility. The vote follows the NCAA Division I council’s recommendation.

Fall sports include football, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, field hockey and cross country.

Giving student-athletes the option of returning next year has the potential to inflate rosters in 2021, but Narduzzi said that shouldn’t matter.

“When you talk about education and the opportunity to play another year, I think it’s a no-brainer,” he said. “There are so many questions in these kids’ heads right now. ‘Should I practice? We might not have a season.’ You see what’s happening at Notre Dame and North Carolina (where spikes in covid cases have forced those schools to suspend practice).

“I think it’s a great rule. It just gives them comfort.”

If the rule is approved, it may force a discussion about altering the 85-player scholarship limit in football.

“The kids are more important,” Narduzzi said. “I like it because we have more scholarships. They’re going to have to. We have commitments, and we’re going to continue to get commitments. We’ll deal with that. This is a different year. It isn’t normal.

“That’s just a financial thing. I don’t think anybody’s really going to (say), ‘Financially, we can’t do that, so the heck with the kids.’

“No, that’s the wrong decision. You bite the bullet, raise some more money, do whatever you have to do.”

Narduzzi said he recognizes revenues will be sharply reduced if no fans are permitted in the stands at football games.

“Money doesn’t matter when it comes to student-athletes. It’s all about the student-athletes,” he said. “It’s a great rule. It’s for the kids.”

West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons, chair of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, agrees.

“We have to look at what was right for the student-athlete for this situation,” he told ESPN.com. “The eligibility piece, without question in my mind, this is a win for them.

“As administrators, as coaches, we’re going to have to deal with a potential backlog on the back end, but I’m very confident that we’ve done it in other situations in a yearly basis.

“It may be greater numbers, but we can work through that with the normal attrition you have on your rosters, as well as discussions with athletes in the coming years about their playing time and their interest in potentially transferring to other institutions.”