The 2020 College Football season is setting up to be an odd one. While players from a handful of conferences will participate this fall, they will do so without expiring any of their eligibility. According to multiple reports, the NCAA approved the proposal for 2020 not to count towards eligibility on Friday.
NCAA officially approves to allow fall sport student-athletes to compete in any amount of competitions this year – whether season in fall or moved to spring – & it will not count as a year of eligibility, sources told @Stadium
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 21, 2020
One Mountaineer player this could set up an interesting scenario for is quarterback Austin Kendall. While he is in the midst of a quarterback competition right now, it is expected Jarret Doege will ultimately win the job, setting him up to be the starter for the rest of his career in Morgantown. For Kendall, this would mean spending the rest of his collegiate career on the bench — of course, no player wants to do that.
While it originally appeared he would probably be content spending just one last season as a backup, the new eligibility rules could potentially give Kendall one last opportunity to make the most of his college days.
It is nothing more than an idea, but could Kendall potentially seek a transfer with the extra year of eligibility he has been granted? Coming into the quarterback equation for the Mountaineers in 2021 will be Will Crowder and Garrett Green who is already on the team. With such an injection of talent, it will only become harder and harder for Kendall to maintain his backup role with the team, and this could be what prompts him to transfer if he wishes to continue his playing career.
However, the one question remains is if Kendall will be allowed to transfer again or not. Having already exercised a graduate transfer option, could he do it again in pursuit of possibly transferring to an FCS team or even lower? It seems to be a bit of a clunky situation, but given the circumstances with 2020, it should be allowed.
Kendall could easily jump to a program on the FCS-level and win the starting job immediately. He has the talent, and is too good to remain on the bench. Will Kendall seek other playing options outside of the Mountaineers? Only time will tell, but it certainly makes sense.
