I concur and I think Its the best route.  We do owe It to the players to let them have that chance to get their degree.  But, they also owe It to ND to move aside and let the better players play If they cant get the job done.  I dont think we should operate like SEC does but I dont think continuing to do what we have Is the right course either.  Somewhere In the middle Is just fine with me.

SeattleNDfan wrote: One thing I believe you will see going forward is to cut down the number of scholarship slots occupied unproductively from the team standpoint, we will see kids who the staff knows aren't going to pan out as big time contributors playing early as freshmen on special teams to burn eligibility years which come back to haunt the coaching staff later on when the non-contributing player is waiting around to play a fifth year somewhere else. 

This will result in fewer kids who stick around and then transfer to play a fifth year elsewhere, because that NCAA rule is significantly affecting ND's ability to sign larger classes. 

ND absolutely owes it to every kid who signs a chance to earn their degree. It absolutely does not owe them preserving their eligibility so they can play another year somewhere else after that.

Moving forward and reading between the lines, I think you will see only offense and defense linemen routinely redshirting down the line, with skill position players on both offense and defense being thrown into the fire early to see what they have.