How does the new NCAA eligibility rule affect Notre Dame Football?

The NCAA is going to pass a new eligibility rule that will allow five years of eligibility for all players. The window for the five years will begin when the athlete turns 19 or when he enrolls in college – whichever happens first.

This is good news and a nice step forward for college sports. This wipes out the shady, confusing, and wacky way the NCAA would grant or deny requests for extra years of eligibility and provides a clear rule to follow.

For Notre Dame, the good news of this rule change might possibly be felt right away. Because it’s 5 for 5 instead of 4 for 5, the rule instantly gives another year of eligibility to five Irish football players:

• Drayk Bowen LB
• Elijah Hughes DT
• Christian Gray DB
• Luke Talich S
• Jordan Faison WR

We are still a number of months away from knowing for sure how many of those five will be returning to the Irish in 2027, but the possibility of most of them returning is pretty good.

What does this mean moving forward? Well, I believe it will give Notre Dame greater flexibility and better options as it finalizes its yearly roster rather than having to nail the transfer portal for 10 or more players each year. In my opinion it will help develop or weed out project players more efficiently.

It’s not that complicated. In fact… it’s quite simple – which is the entire point.