Seniors consider extra year
As the University of Houston prepares for its final game Thursday in the New Mexico Bowl, coach Dana Holgorsen is busy thinking about what his roster will look like beyond this season.
Some of UH’s 21 seniors could opt to return in 2021 after the NCAA in August granted an extra year of eligibility to all fall sports athletes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I would guess half will come back,” Holgorsen said recently.
A few are easy to guess or have already announced decisions, like defensive end Payton Turner and line backer Grant Stuard, who both will skip the bowl to begin preparations for the NFL draft. Wide receiver Marquez Stevenson is expected tomake a similar announcement in the coming days.
Holgorsen said a few others like running back Kyle Porter and offensive lineman Gio Pancotti have completed requirements for master’s degrees and “are ready to move on.”
“That clock for some of the fifth-year guys that have their master’s degree is really over,” Holgorsen added.
Some seniors will return for a chance to improve their draft stock by playing in 2021, some might decide to enter the transfer portal and a few might not be ready to end their playing
days.
“There’s guys that say, ‘It’s been fun, but I’m going to go about my business’ and others that are like, ‘Man, I don’t know what I would do with myself without football, so I’m going to come back,’ ” Holgorsen said.
In preliminary talks, five players have said they want to return for a “second” senior season: all-conference cornerback Damarion Williams, defensive back JoVanni Stewart, defensive end David Anenih, defensive tackle Olivier Charles-Pierre and kicker Dalton Witherspoon.
Fifth-year senior Braylon Jones, who has made 43 career starts on the offensive line, plans to enter the NFL draft. If he isn’t selected, Jones could return as a graduate assistant.
A few others expected back include starting right tackle Dennis Bardwell and
backup running back Chandler Smith. Running back Mulbah Car, who was bothered by an ankle injury this year, also could a return for a fifth season.
Linebacker Terrance Ed-geston, who recently graduated, announced Monday he will enter the transfer portal.
That would leave decisions by safety Deontay Anderson, wide receiver Keith Corbin, offensive lineman Keenan Murphy, wide receiver Cole McGowan, defensive lineman Taures Payne and wide receiver Andrew Segovia.
“We are having those conversations,” Holgorsen said on his weekly radio show. “We’ll continue to have them after the bowl game.”
In any other season, seniors, redshirt seniors and graduate students would have exhausted their eligibility. But with the option for a bonus season, any senior who decides to return in 2021 will not count against a school’s maximum 85 scholarships.
“It’s a different situation for each one of them,” Holgorsen said of sorting through who does or doesn’t return.
For instance, Turner and Stuard had expressed they wanted to return, but those plans changed after they received invitations to the Senior Bowl.
“The Senior Bowl was really what Iwas banking on asmy deciding factor if Iwas going to stay and play next year or go ahead and move on,” Stuard said.
The extra year comes with no guarantees. A returning player is not guaranteed a starting job. There’s also a matter of who will pick up the tab on the extra year. And what if a school does not want a player back?
“It would be a rare deal where we just don’t want them to come back,” Holgorsen said. “I couldn’t see any reason unless there is an attitude deal. Whatever is agreed upon is going to be cordial.”