Games in the FCS playoffs, the Celebration Bowl, and the SWAC Championship won’t count toward the four-game redshirt rule, a waiver unanimously approved by the FCS Oversight Committee earlier this month.
This mirrors a waiver for the FBS that exempts bowl games from counting toward the four-game redshirt rule. It’s a waiver for the 2023 FCS season and will then go into the next legislation cycle for approval for future seasons.
The waiver approval occurred this month during the first-ever FCS Oversight Committee meeting. What was originally the Football Oversight Committee made up of FCS and FBS representatives was split this summer into the FCS Oversight Committee and the FBS Oversight Committee. The FCS now has every conference represented for these sorts of decisions that impact the subdivision. The FCS and FBS Oversight Committees will still meet at different points of the year to ensure the two subdivisions stay connected, HERO Sports is told, especially on matters like recruiting, officiating, and student-athlete health and well-being.
The four-game redshirt rule was implemented in 2018, which allows players to play up to four games without burning their redshirt. Before, FCS postseason games counted toward the four games. Now, they will not.
An example of this is a true freshman playing in four or fewer games during the regular season, and then being able to play in the postseason and still maintain his redshirt, making him a redshirt freshman the next year. Another example could be a third-year junior who missed most of the regular season due to injury and he only played in four or fewer games. He could then return in the postseason if healthy and not burn that season toward his years of eligibility, allowing him to redshirt and return as a redshirt junior.
The FCS Oversight Committee ensures that appropriate oversight of the subdivision is maintained, enhance the development of the sport, and make recommendations related to regular-season and postseason football.
FCS Oversight Committee Members
Members vary from athletic directors, conference commissioners, one student-athlete, one faculty athletics representative, one conference football administrator, one head coach, and the Executive Director of the AFCA.
Chair
Missouri Valley Football Conference
Commissioner Patty Viverito
ASUN Conference
Eastern Kentucky AD Matt Roan
Big Sky Conference
Montana AD Kent Haslam
Big Sky Conference
Montana Sr. Associate AD/SWA Jean Gee
Coastal Athletic Association
Stony Brook AD Shawn Heilbron
Ivy League
Associate Executive Director, Compliance & Governance Aaron Hosmon
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Delaware State Student-Athlete Charles Brown Jr.
Northeast Conference
Sacred Heart University AD Judy Ann Riccio
Ohio Valley Conference
Tennessee Tech AD Mark Wilson
Patriot League
Bucknell AD Jermaine Truax
Pioneer Football League
Commissioner Gregory Walter
Southern Conference
Chattanooga Head Football Coach Rusty Wright
Southland Conference
Commissioner Chris Grant
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Mississippi Valley State AD Hakim McClellan
AFCA Executive Director
Todd Berry (Nonvoting)
