Report: Notre Dame becomes first school to commit to ‘grandfathering-in’ athletes
As debate over the House vs. NCAA settlement that could introduce full-blown revenue sharing to college football continues to rage, Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua made his stance on roster limits public.
Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports college football writer Ross Dellenger that the Irish will “honor the roster spot of all current athletes and permit those who were cut this year to return.” According to Dellenger, this makes Notre Dame the first school to fully commit to “grandfathering-in” current players.
Bevacqua’s public stance is important because, as Dellenger explained on social media, the revision to the settlement only permits — not requires — schools to exempt current athletes from impending roster limits. Football programs, for example, will be capped at 105.
Bevacqua’s public stance is important because, as Dellenger explained on social media, the revision to the settlement only permits — not requires — schools to exempt current athletes from impending roster limits. Football programs, for example, will be capped at 105.
The California judge overseeing the case, Claudia Wilken, told all parties involved that she will not approve the settlement unless some sort of grandfather clause is included to protect athletes in danger of losing their roster spots — and, crucially, those who already did.
“According to a filing made Wednesday in the House settlement case, schools will be permitted to grandfather-in a range of athletes: (1) those currently on a roster; (2) those athletes who have already been cut this year; and (3) those high school recruits who enrolled at a school after committing to a roster position only to see it eliminated,” Dellenger wrote Wednesday.
The most high-profile potential victims of roster caps are walk-on football players, 21 of whom play for Notre Dame. The projected roster, including summer enrollees, sits at 114. Bevacqua’s pledge would allow nine of the 21 walk-ons to remain with the program.
It’s unclear if any walk-ons have been cut this offseason, as Bevacqua alluded to in his statement to Dellenger. By Blue & Gold‘s count, four have entered the transfer portal: tight ends Charlie Selna and Andrew Yanoshak, long snapper Rino Monteforte and kicker Zac Yoakam. Selna and Yanoshak remain uncommitted, while Monteforte signed with California and Yoakam landed with Houston.
Two more walk-ons, defensive linemen Kobi Onyiuke and Quentin Autry are no longer with the program for unspecified reasons and are not expected to enter the transfer portal.
Moving forward, if the House settlement does go into effect as planned, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has said that the Irish plan on using 95 of its 105 roster spots — not including those grandfathered-in — on scholarship players. Notre Dame currently sits at 93 scholarships; the current limit is 85.
Freeman has long been a proponent of walk-ons remaining a part of college football in South Bend.
“I value walk-ons,” Freeman said during his Dec. 4 signing day news conference. “I’ve said that before. What the walk-on process and those guys have done for our program has been tremendous. Their contributions to this current team have been invaluable.”
