While the judge presiding over the House settlement put a serious wrench into the works on Wednesday night, sooner or later, Marcus Freeman knows that Notre Dame football will have to deal with the reality of a roster limit of 105 players.
On Wednesday afternoon, Freeman gave his final post-spring practice press conference and discussed several different topics, including how he’s planning on dealing with that limit. Never let it be said that the Fighting Irish coach lets grass grow under his feet.
Notre Dame prepares for new roster era with flexible scholarship plan
“When we talk about actual scholarship numbers, I think we’re probably looking at around 95 if the limit increases to 105,” the Notre Dame head coach told gathered reporters “But if we need to find a way to ensure more players don’t have to pay for school, we have a plan to address that as well.”
Under current NCAA rules, FBS programs can award only 85 full-ride scholarships. However, if U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken eventually approves the House v. NCAA settlement, teams would have the option to grant scholarships to 20 additional players. In other words, all 105 players allowed on the roster can be scholarship players.
That will be costly, however, and some schools are still planning on having some walk-ons. Notre Dame is one of those teams. Rather than going all the way up to that new limit, the school will increase their schollies by 10.
All of this gained a new wrinkle on Wednesday when Wilken said that the NCAA needed to find a way to grandfather in current players, or come up with a phase-in program so that rosters wouldn’t shrink down to 105 immediately. The current settlement required programs to get down to the new limit by the fall practice.
Notre Dame is one of those schools that has prepped for the limit. The current roster sits at 100 players. That would allow them to add a few players this summer, likely as walk-ons. For now, Marcus Freeman and the program will wait and see what happens with House. But the continued questions about what the final dispensation is are a big problem.