Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi is a fan of the blanket waiver passed by the NCAA on Friday, that will give all fall sports athletes an additional season of eligibility, regardless of whether their team plays or they play — and how much — in the 2020 season.
That means that all of Pitt’s seniors will be eligible to stay and play once again in 2021, a situation that Narduzzi called a “no-brainer.”
“When you talk about education and opportunities to play another year, I think it’s a no-brainer,” he said. “There’s so many questions in these kids head right now. … I think it’s a great rule. I think it just gives them comfort.”
With the uncertainty surrounding the college football season and the COVID-19 situation, several players around the country have opted out, including Pitt defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman.
The waiver will protect those players, as well as the ones that decide to play and stay from having to worry about eligibility concerns as part of that decision.
The downside to the blanket waiver is that it will create a bottleneck in 2021, with an additional entire class worth of players on campus. But the provision allows team to exceed the roster limit for each senior that stays for an additional year, something that Narduzzi thinks will be a net positive for the sport.
“I like it because we get more scholarship players,” he said. “You bite the bullet, raise some more money, whatever you gotta do. … Money doesn’t matter when it comes to student-athletes. It’s all about the student-athlete. To me, this is a great rule.”
How about some camp news guys it would be nice to know what’s going on