The 2025 NJCAA Convention got underway in Denton on Sunday and begins in earnest today. However, the college football world will focus on a meeting of the Division I and III football committees at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. 

In March, the CEO of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, Carol Bruggeman, sent a letter to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and Division I Council on behalf of 16 different associations, containing five areas where the standards for eligibility differed between the NCAA and NJCAA. The NJCAA subsequently began a ‘Same Game Same Rule’ campaign to place pressure on the NCAA.

The item receiving the most attention is a rule requiring two-year transfers to NCAA institutions to hold a minimum 2.5 GPA compared to a student who only needs a 1.8 to 2.0 GPA, depending on semesters of full-time enrollment, to transfer from one NCAA school to another four-year institution.

“Why do you need a higher GPA to leave (a junior college) than you do to transfer from Alabama to another school,” one NJCAA head coach asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Still, changing the GPA standards between two-year and four-year schools rests on the NCAA Board of Directors to resolve. However, the NJCAA can take one tremendous leap forward tomorrow that would immediately help all junior college football programs. Under current NJCAA rules, a player is considered to have competed in an entire season if they play one snap during the season. A player at an NCAA institution can play a certain percentage of their team’s contests in a season and retain their redshirt status.

In other words, a player in NJCAA loses their ability to redshirt the season if they play one snap while a player at an NCAA school can play in up to 36 percent of contests, typically four games, and retain their redshirt.

“It’s a struggle sometimes to get these presidents to change their minds. The old model is a guy is here for two years at most. I tell my guys I want them out of here in 10 months, but it’s a different story if they suffer an injury,” one NJCAA head coach said. “A player can have a high ankle sprain in Week 3 and miss the rest of the regular season because we only play nine games if we don’t make the (conference) playoffs. You’re taking two-thirds of a year from a kid for a high ankle sprain. In this scenario, they won’t give a hardship waiver, which doesn’t sit right with me.”

“We have dinosaurs in place, and sometimes we don’t evolve as fast as everyone else,” another head coach said. “You can try to simulate playing in a game all you want, but it isn’t the same as getting out there, pulling the pacifier, and playing. There’s no parallel to that experience.”

In this case, the NCAA chooses to follow the NJCAA standards regarding eligibility, which leaves junior college programs and athletes at a disadvantage. However, the blame does not lie with the NCAA because they are simply following the rules set by the NJCAA. They could change the redshirt rule this week for the 2025 season, and the NCAA would honor the new eligibility standard.

Considering that NJCAA teams play nine regular season games unless they make the conference playoffs, 36 percent of games would mean that a student could play three games during the season and maintain redshirt status. It’s a rule that every NJCAA head coach contacted believes should change this week. After all, it’s a self-inflicted wound.

“I don’t know who needs to get whacked upside the head to get the cobwebs out, but if a kid at an NCAA school can play a certain percentage of games and redshirt, then we should be able to do that, as well,” one head coach said. “I don’t believe that everyone should get a trophy, but everyone should be treated the same and have the same rules.”

Immediately altering the redshirt rule would lead to a higher level of competition and allow more guys an opportunity to play for an NCAA school due to having an extra year to develop.

“Adding a redshirt rule would facilitate better player development,” another head coach said. “It would allow us to evaluate a guy we think will develop into somebody for a few plays during a game or use them on special teams to limit the wear on a starter before deciding if we want to redshirt them. It’s unfair to our kids.”

While every coach noted the rule is unfair, many are glad to see the NJCAA finally taking steps to ensure their student-athletes face a fair playing field. One head coach succinctly summed up the feeling of many coaches.

“We’re late to the party, but I’m glad they’ve identified some of these changes that need to be made.”

Identifying the changes needed is the first step. Now, the NJCAA must take action.