Grayshirting is a delay of game that can help recruits

[smupony94]

Grayshirting is a delay of game that can help recruits

11:09 PM CST on Saturday, January 31, 2009

By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected] / The Dallas Morning News


• E-mail

AUSTIN – For Adam Ulatoski, one workout too many put him in a gray area.

Determined to get in the best shape possible for the start of his career at Texas, Ulatoski attacked the weight room at Southlake Carroll following the 2003 season.

Then he felt a distinct, painful "pop" in his back while weight training. The injury introduced him to "grayshirting," a term that has become part of the college football vocabulary in the last decade.

A grayshirt describes an athlete who graduates from high school in the spring, sits out the fall term, then enrolls the following spring. The reasons can vary from a major injury to academic qualifying issues to a recruiting class that exceeds the 25-scholarship limit.

Expect to hear the phrase as college coaches discuss their recruiting classes Wednesday on national signing day.

"It's a tremendous advantage [for the player], based on maturity and the opportunity to get stronger," Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis said.

The Longhorns have used grayshirting sparingly. Ulatoski and Tony Hills, a rookie offensive lineman with the Pittsburgh Steelers, were two Texas players who benefited from grayshirting.

The NCAA recognizes the practice but never mentions grayshirting in any official document or manual, according to its media relations department. The name itself dates to the 1990s and gained more prominence recently.

John Parker Wilson, Alabama's starting quarterback during an undefeated regular season, began his career as a grayshirt. So did Todd Boeckman, who quarterbacked Ohio State to two national title game appearances.

Texas Tech effectively used grayshirting with receiver Lyle Leong and tight end Adam James, who combined for 32 catches this season.

"It has to be the right kid," Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said. "Some kids understand the fact that grayshirting is not necessarily a negative thing. A school's initial scholarship limit has been filled, but you'd still love to have them with that class.

"The kids we have grayshirted, it's worked well."

SMU coach June Jones estimated he had a handful of grayshirts on his 2007 Hawaii team that crashed the Bowl Championship Series.

"Depending on the situation, it's almost always in the best interest of the athlete," Jones said. "It happens for different reasons. At Hawaii, it was an overabundance at a certain position."

At SMU, emerging offensive lineman Josh Emshoff has thrived after grayshirting because of a shoulder injury, bulking up from 260 pounds to 290.

While Jones believes quarterback development can be aided by grayshirting, the position that probably benefits most is the offensive line. Players use the time to prepare and mature for what they'll face in college. Think of it as a boys-to-men transformation.

In Ulatoski's case, he really didn't have a choice. He learned he wouldn't be able to play or even practice as a freshman at Texas because of his back injury.

So he delayed enrollment until January after talking with the coaching staff.

Ulatoski discovered grayshirting was initially more difficult than he thought.

"I was a senior in high school, and everybody remembers how excited they were going into college," Ulatoski said. "Then I found out, wait, I can't. It was kind of a shock to me that way that I was ready and it just kind of fell through."

Besides rehabbing his back, he spent the semester as a volunteer JV coach at Carroll, took a community college class and watched a lot of the Discovery and History channels. He wondered about his friends, nearly all of whom had gone away to college. A 3.9 student in high school, he missed the classroom.

"The hardest part was trying to find my niche when everybody else had theirs when I came in," Ulatoski said. "I think it was a really good decision for me because I wouldn't be playing this [upcoming] year. I would have burned my redshirt season not getting any better."

With 29 starts, Ulatoski will enter his senior season as a fixture at left tackle, protecting Colt McCoy's blind side. Davis said he believes Ulatoski, twice All-Big 12, ranks with the top linemen of the Mack Brown era and calls him the offensive line's "bell cow." Academically, Ulatoski has already entered graduate school in advertising.

The longest semester of his career seems a lot shorter.

"If you're a younger guy who is thinking about it and if you have an opportunity to go somewhere and all you have do is wait one semester, I would say do it," Ulatoski said. "It's one semester for the rest of your life."

Staff writer Brandon George contributed to this report.

FOOTBALL'S COLOR SCHEMES
REDSHIRT

With players having five years to play four seasons, teams will sometimes hold a player from game action, preserving a year of eligibility. Redshirts can practice with the team. Often, a major injury forces a player to use a redshirt season.

GRAYSHIRT

A player who delays entry at least one semester. The player cannot practice or attend classes at the school for that semester. He then retains his five-year window. He will count against the 25-scholarship limit in the next recruiting class.

GREENSHIRT

An even newer term than grayshirt that describes a player who enrolls a semester early to participate in spring practice.

Sources: NCAA, AllExperts.com, DMN research

[mustangbill67]

Can a greyshirt enroll in school on his own; pay his own way for a semester, not participate in the football program and still qualify as a greyshirt?

[Charleston Pony]

anyone know how our incoming grayshirts spent their fall? Not a bad deal if you can take a job, earn some spending cash and work out like a mad dog...but I assume these guys can take classes at some school close to their hometowns that will be credited towards their degree? I assume they could be in Dallas working and working out...but could they use SMU's facilities?

Emshoff sounds like a good example of why this is particularly helpful for OL, DL & LB candidates. Anyone know what Line and Parker might have done? If we go to more 3-4 sets, does Parker have the speed/skills to move into the LB rotation?

[mustangbill67]

Interesting that Jones indicated the offensive line would be the one area that would benefit most from greyshirting. Probably Frazier was told he would have to greyshirt and decided to go to UTEP instead.

[Mickey]

Can a greyshirt enroll in school on his own; pay his own way for a semester, not participate in the football program and still qualify as a greyshirt?

Good question. Also. can a grayshirt have access to SMU's weight room during that first semester?

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

Can a greyshirt enroll in school on his own; pay his own way for a semester, not participate in the football program and still qualify as a greyshirt?

Good question. Also. can a grayshirt have access to SMU's weight room during that first semester?

Well, according to the definition of a "Greyshirt," I don't think they would be able to do either one since 1)he can't attend school when his fellow classmates start or he'll count against the scholarship limit for that class and 2) he can't practice. I'd surmise that if he couldn't practice because he's not enrolled that he wouldn't be able to use the facilities either. Just a guess.

[Mickey]

Can a greyshirt enroll in school on his own; pay his own way for a semester, not participate in the football program and still qualify as a greyshirt?

Good question. Also. can a grayshirt have access to SMU's weight room during that first semester?

Well, according to the definition of a "Greyshirt," I don't think they would be able to do either one since 1)he can't attend school when his fellow classmates start or he'll count against the scholarship limit for that class and 2) he can't practice. I'd surmise that if he couldn't practice because he's not enrolled that he wouldn't be able to use the facilities either. Just a guess.

Then the question is can a grayshirt use the facilites without being enrolled?

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

Can a greyshirt enroll in school on his own; pay his own way for a semester, not participate in the football program and still qualify as a greyshirt?

Good question. Also. can a grayshirt have access to SMU's weight room during that first semester?

Well, according to the definition of a "Greyshirt," I don't think they would be able to do either one since 1)he can't attend school when his fellow classmates start or he'll count against the scholarship limit for that class and 2) he can't practice. I'd surmise that if he couldn't practice because he's not enrolled that he wouldn't be able to use the facilities either. Just a guess.

Then the question is can a grayshirt use the facilites without being enrolled?

I actually managed to ask someone who knows Adam Ulatoski and they advised me that he wasn't allowed to do any kind of workout on the UT campus per NCAA rules. So it seems that the answer to your question is no, they would not be able to do so.