During their long layoff ahead of the Rose Bowl, the IU football coaching staff has time to begin the process of thinking about the 2026 roster.
But there is one major unknown hanging over not just Indiana football but all of college sports at the moment.
You may have heard in recent months about the so-called push for a five-year rule.
A group of college athletes is suing the NCAA (Patterson v. NCAA) in an effort to force the association to allow college athletes to compete for five seasons rather than four.
The class action lawsuit claims that the NCAA’s eligibility rules violate antitrust law. The NCAA’s current rules allow athletes to compete for four seasons during a five-year timespan that begins when they enroll in college. And that fifth-year is only available if one of the first four seasons qualifies as a redshirt-year.
The redshirt rule allows an athlete to preserve a season of eligibility by sitting out or competing minimally (depending on the sport) to develop skills, focus on academics, or recover from an injury. For football, a player can take a redshirt season if they play in four or less regular season games.
So the main players impacted the most by the lawsuit are current seniors who never qualified for a redshirt year. In essence, the argument is they deserve a chance to compete and earn NIL and revenue sharing for a fifth-season.
A preliminary injunction hearing Monday in the Patterson v. NCAA antitrust challenge could indicate where things are headed. The injunction would only apply to five players, but if granted would likely lead to a wave of lawsuits involving players seeking a fifth season.
So who are the Indiana players currently slated to exhaust their eligibility after this season who could potentially return if granted a fifth-year?
It would be the following so-called “true seniors” who never qualified for a redshirt season because they played in more than four games in each of the last four years. And it’s not an insignificant list:
- Aiden Fisher, linebacker
- Stephen Daley, defensive end
- Kellan Wyatt, defensive end
- Elijah Sarratt, wide receiver
- Holden States, tight end
- Jonathan Brady, wide receiver
- Tyler Morris, wide receiver*
- Mitch McCarthy, punter
The ruling obviously involves some key players who could provide a significant lift to Indiana in 2026.
Clearly there is a lot to play out here, both in the courts, and as it relates to decisions by both the players and the staff on making a return. But as we saw in 2025 with Louis Moore, the IU staff is not adverse to leaving the door open for a player if he can earn additional eligibility in the courts.
File this away as something to keep an eye on.
*Morris should already qualify for a fifth year under the medical hardship waiver rules.
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