Prospecting for Football Tips: The Redshirt, Greenshirt, and Grayshirt in College Programs

 

High school football players who wish to play the game in college are often confronted with unfamiliar terms when they become active in the college football prospecting process. In particular, they'll often hear of the "redshirt, inch as well as the "grayshirt" and "greenshirt" -- terms that refer to player prospecting and player development strategies employed by many colleges in prospecting for football.

NCAA (National Collegiate Fitness Association) rules allow a college football player five years to complete his four months of eligibility. That 5th year in which the player doesn't compete on the field, although he practices and receives his scholarship just as any other player on a football scholarship, is called the redshirt year. ทีเด็ดบอลวันนี้ Usually, new employees are redshirted their freshman year because they tend to need more time to develop as college players who can contribute to the success of the team. A freshman player who plays in games during his first year on campus (he isn't redshirted) will have only three additional years to play, but a freshman who doesn't play in games during his first year in college (he's redshirted) will still have four more years of playing eligibility after that first year.

A high school player receives a greenshirt or is "greenshirted" when he graduates early from high school and thereby forgoes his spring term there so that he can become a member of college for that term. Almost uncommon until recent years, the greenshirt allows high school players to participate in spring practice regarding his college team, develop his football skills and understanding of the team's system during the spring and summer, and possibly begin playing in games the following fall. It provides a player and the college team a young begin preparing to play football in college, but comes at the cost of leaving high school early, which might or might not be the best long-term strategy for a student.

A player gets a grayshirt or is "grayshirted" when he signs a letter of intent on signing day in February, but doesn't enter college full-time prior to the following spring rather than the following fall. He doesn't obtain a scholarship, practice with the team, or take a full-time load of college courses until his spring sign up. Grayshirting a player allows a college to sign a player, but delay his play in games for another year. In effect, grayshirting provides a player another year of practice before play, since the NCAA-mandated five-year eligibility period doesn't begin until a student is signed up full-time. College programs that have already honored near the maximum number allowed under NCAA rules are forced to sign a small prospecting class, and they are most interested in players who are willing to grayshirt.