IOWA CITY — The shifting landscape of college athletics was recently hit with another seismic change.
This one relates to eligibility.
There are plenty of nuances to this change that can be confusing to digest. But in simple terms, here’s what’s most important to know: Returning college football players who did not use their redshirt now could be granted an extra season of eligibility if they choose to use it.
Let’s take Reece Vander Zee, for example. Vander Zee, who has already spent two seasons in the Iowa program, did not redshirt. Under previous rules, he would have just two seasons of eligibility remaining, including the 2026 campaign. But now, he could have three.
Vander Zee left the door open to that possibility.
“Yeah, anything’s up for debate,” Vander Zee said at Iowa football media day on Aug. 14. “I don’t really have a plan past this year. So I’m just going to play this year and see what happens. If a fifth year is the best thing for me, then that’s a possibility, for sure.”
That would be a big deal. Vander Zee has proven to be a weapon in the receiving game. The Rock Rapids product burst onto the scene with a pair of touchdown catches in his Iowa debut and has been impactful when healthy, though he has also battled injuries over the last two seasons.
Defensive back Jaylen Watson is in a similar boat. Watson and Vander Zee arrived in the same high school recruiting class and got meaningful playing time immediately in their first seasons with the program. Therefore, like Vander Zee, Watson could now play three more seasons at Iowa, as opposed to two.
For someone like Watson, who is still scratching the surface of his potential at Iowa, a fifth season could give him even more time to develop and produce in the program.
“Honestly, if I have to, then, yeah I will because who wants to leave this (college football) right now, man?” Watson said. “It’s great playing in college football. But in my eyes, man, I’m just trying to have a great two years here at Iowa, really be productive and go to the (NFL). But if I got to use that fifth year, I love it here at Iowa, so I wouldn’t mind staying here at all.”
For tight end Zach Ortwerth, who also did not redshirt, the possibility of using a fifth season is in the more immediate future than Vander Zee and Watson. Ortwerth, who enters the 2026 season with 263 career receiving yards, is a veteran in the Iowa tight end room. Under the previous model, the 2026 season would’ve been Ortwerth’s final campaign in an Iowa uniform. But now, he could come back in 2027.
Like Vander Zee and Watson, Ortwerth did not rule out the possibility of using a fifth season.
“That was kind of a good surprise,” Ortwerth said of the rule changes. “But, yeah, just kind of taking it day by day … Coming back here, playing for coach (Kirk) Ferentz would be another great opportunity. So if I have the opportunity, I don’t know why I wouldn’t take it.”
For the current first-year class, the new eligibility model means Iowa doesn’t have to closely monitor how many games the young Hawkeyes appear in, as was the case previously if they wanted to protect their redshirt. That makes the path to significant playing time more likely for first-year players.
“I think the most positive thing about the five-for-five is now we have freshmen that we don’t have to worry about trying to preserve their redshirt,” Iowa general manager/chief of staff Tyler Barnes said. “Now we can just throw them out there. We have probably five or six freshmen that can help us on special teams this year, whether they got here in January or June. And now we can just, game one, throw them out there, let’s go. It’s huge for them because we don’t have to worry about a redshirt. And two, the more special teams they play, the easier it’s going to make them transition to playing offense or defense. So it’s a win all the way around. I wish they would’ve done it five years ago. But I’m glad we at least finally got it now.”
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at TTachman@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: New rule could give Iowa football more time with Reece Vander Zee, others
Reporting by Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register / Hawk Central
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By Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
