College football teams will now have a roster cap. How is UNM approaching the new rules?

Jason Eck was wrapping up work at a football camp last Friday night in Fort Worth, Texas when he got the news: the House v. NCAA settlement had been approved. College sports, for better or for worse, changed forever with one ruling from a federal judge.

His first thought?

“Finally,” New Mexico’s first-year head football coach chuckled.

Makes sense. After all, coaches such as Eck, and staffs such as UNM’s, have spent months planning for the effects of the class-action settlement, one that opens the door for NCAA-member schools to directly share millions of dollars with its athletes.

But beyond that — and maybe most importantly for coaches and staff — the settlement will also institute roster limits across NCAA-sanctioned sports. For football, that means teams can put a “full” roster of 105 players. Programs previously had 85 full scholarships to award and no cap, with rosters typically swelling to 120 or more players.

In an era where roster construction has never been more important, how are the Lobos approaching this change?

Instead of awarding 105 full scholarships, Eck said UNM will continue to “stay around” 85 full scholarships while still making room for walk-ons and taking advantage of new rules allowing for partial scholarships. Unlike other NCAA sports, partial scholarships previously weren’t allowed in football. Eck added that partials would be derived from those roughly 85 scholarships.

“Even if they thought there might be cash for 105 scholarships, I really don’t think that’s the best use of your money,” he told the Journal on Thursday. “You want to try to reward your best players.”

The Lobos’ roster is unlikely to be at a firm 105 this fall, though. While programs — such as UNM — have made cuts in preparation of the cap, schools will temporarily be allowed to “grandfather” in players who would have been cut to meet the 105-player limit, making them exempt from roster cuts.

Eck said he isn’t sure what the program’s final roster number will be, but he’s anticipating UNM to be over the 105 limit even after upward of 17 players departed via the transfer portal. Any players deemed “over” the 105 will then be subject to the grandfathering provision as the season approaches.

The roster will not be over 115 players this season, Eck added.

“We’re in pretty good shape … We still (have to) keep working towards figuring it out when it does become a hard cap … within a few years,” he said.

When asked if he thought the changes brought on by the settlement (both roster limits and revenue sharing) were good for college football, Eck said the added structure was preferable to the last few years with “no guidance or no cap” — even if the changes were likely overdue.

“I think if the NCAA 20 years ago said, ‘yeah, you can get a free pizza for being a good football player,’ and ‘you can do an ad for the local car dealership if you’re Reggie Bush, if you’re a great player’,” he said, “it probably, maybe would have never gotten to the point we’re at right now.”