NCAA schools will be allowed to go over the 85-man scholarship limit for the 2021 football season.  Since last season didn’t count towards eligibility, seniors from 2020 can return for 2021 and they won’t count towards the scholarship limit.

However, near as I can tell, there is no such rule in place for seasons beyond 2021.  Click here for the page on NCAA.org about the subject.  Let me know if I misread that page, or if I missed some other announcement, but it appears to me that we’ll be back to the regular 85-man limit in 2022.

With 2020 not counting for anybody’s eligibility, that throws scholarship counts way outta whack for coaches.  Since 2020 didn’t count, all 2020 and 2021 recruits will be in the same year of eligibility this fall.  For example, on paper Tech could have five true freshmen running backs in camp this year, even though those five players were recruited in two different classes.

With the 85-man limit being restored in 2022 (assuming that turns out to be the case), college football programs are going to have record amounts of attrition following the 2021 season.  There will be less playing time for young players this fall with scholarship numbers so high, there will be record numbers of players in the transfer portal after the season most likely, and not all of those players will be able to find a home because everybody is going to have a numbers crunch issue.  There will be a large pool of players, but not enough spots.

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