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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
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If college football coaches get what they want — and they often do — eligibility rules are about to be altered significantly … in a good way. Coaches are pushing for an academic clock that allows five years to complete an athlete’s career. That will mean the sometimes arbitrary redshirt rules be going bye-bye.
Mark Illinois football coach Bret Bielema down as a definite “Yes” vote.
“I’ve been talking to coaches all over this country about trying to get this 5 for 5 through,” Bielema said. “A lot of it is coming to a head in the next week or two because all these kids have played four games and they’ve got make that decision.”
Currently, college football players are allowed to play up to four games in a season without burning a year of eligibility.
“As coaches that’s something we’re hoping we can alleviate,” Bielema said.
Bielema said he is confident 5 for 5 will be in place soon.
“The Big Ten is 100 percent behind it and the Big 12 was when I talked to Coach (Joey) McGuire down at Texas Tech,” Bielema said. “I talked to several SEC coaches who said the SEC is going to be on board as well.”
Bob Asmussen is a college football reporter and columnist for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at 217-393-8248 or asmussen@news-gazette.com.