- It is used all the time by coaches to refer to a player who isn't playing during a current season.
redshirt10
compounding noun
It refers to when an NCAA athlete sits out of play for a year in order to preserve a year of eligibility in a season when maybe he or she wouldn’t have played much anyway.
Etymology : Is a compound of the words red and shirt. It was probably deemed redshirt because the players that weren’t actually playing during that season would wear red shirts in practice to differentiate them.
Source : “Cole you will probably redshirt this year because we don’t think you are ready to play yet.” (Coach Bailiff, August 2013)
Last modified: 1 December 2016