Former Notre Dame commit Deuce Knight is finding out that this era of college football giveth and this era also taketh away. Specifically, an era where Trinidad Chambliss can do an end run around the NCAA to get an extra year of eligibility has taken away Knight's chances of starting in 2026.
Chambliss was granted that extra year on Thursday by an Ole Miss alumnus and Judge, and almost immediately after, social media watchers noticed that Knight had purged his Instagram account of references to Ole Miss.
The question now is just what the former Notre Dame commit can do about it? The transfer portal has been closed for a long time now. There's no spring portal anymore. He could do his own end-around and withdraw from Ole Miss and enroll elsewhere, but that's hardly the best decision, especially since he's likely signed contracts with and at his new school.
Former Notre Dame commit Deuce Knight learns the downside of the current era of college football
After decommitting from the Fighting Irish, Knight eventually signed with Auburn and started one game in his true freshman season. Then, not seeing an avenue to start with the Tigers, he went to the Rebels.
Now what happens? It's not as though Knight has declared he wants to leave. But it certainly feels like he's learning the big negative of this era. He almost certainly had a better shot at starting if he'd stayed at Auburn, even if they went out and got Byrum Brown. There's a chance there would have been a real position battle.
It's also clear that he gave up a chance to compete for the job with another freshman last year, in CJ Carr, when he decommitted from Notre Dame. Deuce Knight is a talented player, but going where he thinks he has the best chance to start right away isn't paying off for him.