"Should be arrested": Former Arizona State QB Drew Pyne's remaining 3-years of NCAA eligibility baffles college football fans
Drew Pyne is transferring to his third team in three years.
The former Notre Dame Fighting Irish Quarterback, who played the 2023 season as a backup for Arizona State, will be on the Missouri Tigers roster for 2024.
Pyne has played college football for four seasons so far and has three more years of eligibility.
Here is how College Football fans have reacted to this news:
The general takeaway from college football fans is that they are not happy with Drew Pyne transferring to another school and that he has three years of eligibility left.
College football players tend to either stay at the program they initially committed to, work their way up, or transfer in order to improve their careers and their chances of success.
However, what Pyne is doing is, in the eyes of the fans, odd.
Drew Pyne spent one season at Arizona State, where he played two games before being injured.
Pyne went to Arizona State from Notre Dame, a school where he spent three years at. Pyne was described as the future QB of the Fighting Irish. He became the team's starter for the 2022 season, as Tyler Buchner was injured.
In that year, he had an 8-2 record, throwing 2,021 yards and 22 touchdowns. He had some success, but, as he was never seen as a starting QB, Pyne transferred to Arizona State, where he would again be a backup.
This didn't work out, so instead of going to a program where he could have a chance to become a starting quarterback, he moved to the Missouri Tigers to be a backup for Brady Cook.
College football fans think that Pyne should give up at this point. He is 23 years old and has had four seasons already in college football. His career may not take off, so he should just, as one fan said “get a job”. He already has his college degree. He completed it during the spring.
But, something else that the fans are not happy with is that Drew Pyne has three more years left of eligibility. This could mean that he could move to three more teams. But why does he have this?
Why does Drew Pyne have three more years of eligibility?
The traditional career for a college football player is a maximum of three years, which reflects the three years it takes to get a degree in the US.
However, there are ways that someone can extend the amount they are eligible to play.
Firstly, the 2020 season was an exception for all players. Due to the Pandemic and the state that college football was in that season, the NCAA ruled that the season did not count toward any player's eligibility.
The main way that a player's eligibility can be extended is by being “redshirted”. The rationale behind this is to deliberately extend a player's career by suspending their main involvement with a program and allowing them to develop as a player.
Pyne started his career in 2020 with Notre Dame, so he was redshirted during the covid year, keeping his four years of eligibility. He would then be redshirted in 2021 and 2023, meaning that the 2022 season used his first eligible year.
This is why Drew Pyne has three years left in college football.