MUNCIE, Ind. — Tanner Koziol had an idea that it was coming, that he’d have to grayshirt and not join BSU’s football program until 2022.
Koziol, a high school signee in Ball State’s 2021 recruiting class, said he had been told during his recruitment that it could happen. Given the NCAA decision to grant fall sports athletes like BSU’s an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic, the coaching staff didn’t know how many of the athletes — who otherwise would have exhausted their eligibility — would elect to return. And that meant, although Koziol signed this past December, his status was uncertain.