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UCLA Football: How the new NCAA rule changes could affect the team

By Mike Regalado

PASADENA, CA - NOVEMBER 06: General view of the stadium during the game between the Oregon State Beavers and the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl on November 6, 2010 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - NOVEMBER 06: General view of the stadium during the game between the Oregon State Beavers and the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl on November 6, 2010 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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On Wednesday, two rule changes were announced by the NCAA that involve easing the transfer process and redshirt rules which look to benefit the student athletes, but how does it affect the UCLA football team?

The UCLA football team is in transition as new head coach Chip Kelly is setting the foundation for his team. Unfortunately that comes with removing parts that just do not fit the scheme or process.

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We have already seen six players leave the program this past week alone, but due to new NCAA rules, players that look to transfer, no longer have to get permission from their school to contact other programs about potential landing spots.

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The Division I Council passed the “notification-of-tranfer” rule that allows athletes to enter a national transfer database. Once in the database, any coach in the country will be able to contact the athlete, rather than the player needing approval from the school they are transferring from to talk to a certain program.

Basically, coaches can no longer block a player from transferring to a rival or conference school (or any school), which often forces players to land in a program outside their conference or region. That rule goes into effect on October 15.

Additionally, the NCAA changed the redshirt rule which now allows a player to play in up to four games “without losing a season of competition”. Essentially, if a coach wants to use a player, or more appropriately “try out” a player, they can do so and can then decide to keep the player’s redshirt intact by discontinue their playing time as long as it does not exceed four games.

This coming fall, Kelly will have a lot of talented players at his disposal. If there are a few that he wants to play immediately, he has that option to do so and then hold them back if they do not yet meet the demands of the team. This not only gives younger players on-field experience, but a chance to keep their eligibility.

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Though the NCAA has a long way to go with setting up the right environment for student-athletes, these two rule changes start to help that process. Anything that helps the student-athlete is also a plus.