The University of Hawaii football team was entering the final month of the 2025 regular season, and head coach Timmy Chang was studying performance charts.
The NCAA permitted a player to qualify for a redshirt year if he did not participate in more than four regular-season games. Chang and his staff had to decide whether to hold out redshirt-minded players so they would be available to play in the final one or two games without exceeding the limit. Or the players could burn the redshirt hope by playing in more than four games.
“Those were tough decisions,” Chang said.
On Tuesday, the NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved the so-called “5-for-5” rule. The model calls for a student-athlete to have five years of eligibility during a five-year span. The rule will eliminate the redshirt year and most waivers (for injury, illness or extenuating circumstance, such as caring for a family member).
The eligibility clock would start when a student-athlete enrolls full time in college or at age 19, whatever comes first. The age minimum was set to accommodate student-athletes who spend a post-high school year at a preparatory academy. The clock would pause for active-duty military service or religious mission.
The rule will be implemented ahead of the 2027-28 academic year.
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“It does clear up some gray area,” Chang said. “It also puts the age in perspective, from 18 or 19 to 22- to 23- year-olds. I like it because it puts parameters around what college athletics is about.”
The ruling would have been helpful to former UH quarterback Brayden Schager, who petitioned for a waiver that would have allowed him to play as a fifth-year senior in 2025. Schager forfeited a redshirt in 2021 when he was summoned to play in a fifth game as a one-drive replacement for injured quarterback Chevan Cordeiro. Todd Graham, who was UH’s head coach in 2021, wrote a testimonial letter accepting blame and insisting Schager should not have lost the redshirt opportunity.
UH coaches also are seeking further interpretation of the starting date for the 5-for-5 clock. If the rule were in effect last year, kicker Kansei Matsuzawa and punter Billy Gowers probably would not have been eligible. Matsuzawa, who grew up in Japan, was 22 when he enrolled at Hocking College in 2021. If the 5-for-5 rule had been in place, Matsuzawa’s NCAA eligibility would have expired at the end of his first UH season in December 2023. Australia-reared Gowers, a former Australian rules player, was a 29-year-old freshman at the start of the 2025 season. Based on their strong 2025 season, Matsuzawa signed a free-agent deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. Gowers transferred to defending national champ Indiana.
There is little concern about the new starting dates for international basketball players. According to a coach, in this one-and-done era, a player with advanced international experience and, say, two or three years of NCAA eligibility, would be welcomed.
UH baseball coach Rich Hill said he also is seeking fuller interpretation of the new rule. But it appears the rule would provide leverage in negotiations. Players are eligible for the Major League Baseball draft after their junior years. Now drafted players can use the option of returning to school for a fourth or fifth year in contract talks.
UH coaches are hopeful there still will be extensions for players who suffer season-ending injuries or incur family emergencies.
Former UH basketball guard Juan Munoz famously had eight years of NCAA eligibility after suffering two ACL tears and an Achilles injury. He also received a COVID-year exemption. Munoz is starting his second year as the Rainbow Warriors’ director of player development.
As far back as 2006, UH football players have made use of injury exemptions to extend their college careers. That year, running back Nate Ilaoa and safety Leonard Peters were each granted a sixth year because of season-ending injuries.