Roster security: nothing is guaranteed, so earn it every day

My scholarship was mine for four years. That world is gone.

I never had to think about a roster limit. My scholarship was mine for four years, and the only thing that could take it away was committing a felony, flunking out of school or just quitting. That world is gone.

Today’s player operates inside a 105-man roster and a scholarship that resets year to year. Nobody hands you security anymore — you build it, or you don’t. Common sense says: if the guarantee is gone, the work has to fill the gap it left behind.

I think about Lesson 4 here — those who stay the course will be champions. That lesson meant something different in my day, when staying the course was mostly about patience. Now it also means competing for your own spot every single offseason, whether you’re a fifth-year starter or a true freshman trying to survive a cutdown. The players who treat every year like a tryout, not an entitlement, are the ones who last.

It also connects straight back to what Coach Brennan’s staff calls Redline — effort, execution, accountability, applied without a break. In a world with no guaranteed four years, Redline isn’t just a slogan anymore. It’s the actual math of staying on the roster. The guys living at that standard every single day are the ones a staff protects when hard roster decisions come. The guys coasting on potential are the ones who find out the hard way that potential doesn’t fill out a depth chart.

John McClain’s line fits perfectly here: common sense ain’t common. Everybody on a roster knows, in theory, that nothing is promised. Very few players actually train, study, and carry themselves like they understand that in their bones. That gap — between knowing it and living like it’s true — is exactly where roster spots get decided now.

Don’t wait for a guarantee that isn’t coming. Earn the spot like it’s temporary, because honestly, it is.