Notre Dame Football: Is Brian Kelly blocking Phil Jurkovec’s waiver?

Notre Dame football has a 10-game ACC schedule, which features Boston College and their new quarterback, Notre Dame transfer Phil Jurkovec.

While disappointing that Miami wasn’t added to Notre Dame football’s schedule during their one year of conference play, some exciting match-ups were added. This includes a trip to Boston College, which I have always found to be Notre Dame’s most underrated rivalry.

However, this season, beyond the standard Battle for the Ireland Trophy, there is intrigue at quarterback. Phil Jurkovec, former Notre Dame quarterback, transferred to Boston College after this past season. There’s just on problem: Jurkovec doesn’t have a waiver to play in 2020 yet.

This problem has been a point of frustration for a lot of Boston College fans, who feel Notre Dame is blocking their new quarterback from receiving that waiver. He needs the waiver because he isn’t  a graduate transfer, and will be forced to take a redshirt without it.

This begs the question, is there any merit to these claims?

The first thing to consider is what a waiver actually is. Essentially, it clears you to play right away, and you need one if transferring from one four year school to another. In order to get one, “A school must demonstrate that the student-athlete’s transfer is linked to documented mitigating circumstances outside the student-athlete’s control.”

Waivers are notoriously difficult to get, with players like Luke Ford being denied, despite the desire to play where his now-late grandfather would be able to see him. At the same time, high-profile quarterbacks seemingly get a pass on waivers. Just look at Tate Martell, who seemingly got a waiver for not being good enough to start at Ohio State. Now, he may have had a good reason for the waiver, but it’s unclear what that reason was, which just frustrates the process.

Now, Jurkovec’s situation is, from the outside looking in, about playing time. He was going to sit behind Ian Book, just to have Tyler Buchner coming the year after. He may never have gotten his shot at Notre Dame. Of course, there may be something that isn’t public record. However, this doesn’t seem like a waiver that should go through, assuming the system works (which it doesn’t).

Notre Dame could certainly make this easier for Jurkovec, and essentially admit they weren’t going to play him no matter what he did. Without Brian Kelly coming out and saying that, though, it’s almost impossible to prove. For Notre Dame’s part, there’s no incentive to admit this, even if it is true. It would tell recruits, “We play favorites, and decide some players are just not worth playing.”

None of that would be good for Notre Dame’s image. So, yeah, Brian Kelly and the Irish haven’t done Jurkovec any favors in the process.

To say Notre Dame is blocking Jurkovec’s waiver, though, is absolutely ridiculous. There’s no evidence they’re trying to block his waiver. They’re just not actively helping him to get one, and why should they help? Things are chaotic, as the coaching staff needs to deal with a pandemic. Why spend time on a player who isn’t in the locker room anymore? Especially because, based on what is public knowledge, that player is leaving for more playing time.

If I’m Phil Jurkovec, I don’t know that I would be concerned about not getting a waiver for this season, anyways. Yes, it would be great to have the opportunity to play right away, but this season is in turmoil. Why not take a year to build chemistry, and learn the offense?