{"id":1027648,"date":"2026-10-14T21:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T21:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1027648\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T21:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T21:12:18","slug":"ohio-gov-mike-dewine-defies-ncaa-eligibility-rule-with-executive-order-for-student-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1027648\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Gov Mike DeWine defies NCAA eligibility rule with executive order for student-athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA president pressed on NIL paydays, Protect College Sports Act<\/a> <\/p>\n

NCAA president Charlie Baker discusses NIL paydays and the Protect College Sports Act during ‘The Sunday Briefing.’ Baker reacts to reports of college athletes buying million-dollar homes following the Senate’s bipartisan 74-24 vote. Additionally, the former Massachusetts governor also reacts to Boston’s Logan Airport holding public auditions for its next announcer.<\/p>\n

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order Tuesday allowing colleges and universities in the state to decide whether athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 can compete for a fifth season. The order challenges a new NCAA eligibility rule<\/a> that excludes those athletes.<\/p>\n

“When the rules change, fairness has to remain part of the equation,” DeWine, a Republican, said in a statement. “We want Ohio\u2019s student-athletes to have the same opportunity as student-athletes in other states.”<\/p>\n

Under DeWine\u2019s order, Ohio colleges and universities may allow eligible athletes to compete despite the NCAA\u2019s<\/a> position that those who have already played four seasons cannot receive another year of eligibility.<\/p>\n

In a statement exclusively obtained by OutKick, Ryan Downton, an attorney representing a group of athletes in a key eligibility case pending in an Ohio court, said: “We are thankful that Gov. DeWine took action to ensure that all student-athletes in Ohio are treated equitably with their peers. Hopefully, the NCAA will stop its misguided quest to deny the Class of 2022 the same fifth year offered to everyone else. If not, we hope other governors will follow suit.”<\/p>\n

\"Ohio <\/p>\n

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine watches from the sideline before an NCAA football game between Ohio State and Minnesota at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 4, 2025. Ohio State won 42-3. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)<\/p>\n

Sources told OutKick\u2019s Trey Wallace Tuesday night that other governors could “follow suit” with their own versions of similar orders as soon as next week.<\/p>\n

NCAA WINS TENTH CIRCUIT ‘STAY’, BUT FACES MORE ELIGIBILITY LAWSUITS FROM 2022 CLASS ATHLETES IN CHAOTIC TIME<\/a><\/p>\n

The NCAA pushed back against DeWine\u2019s order Tuesday. In a memo to the organization\u2019s member schools, which was also obtained by OutKick, NCAA President Charlie Baker<\/a> said DeWine “cannot legislate NCAA eligibility rules.”<\/p>\n

“One elected official seeking to make their own rules for their own schools\u2019 advantage is a terrible way to run athletic competitions,” Baker wrote. He also urged Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act<\/a>, a sweeping bill that aims to establish guardrails for how colleges compensate athletes and what those athletes can challenge in court. Baker added, “This is precisely why Congress must pass the PCSA as soon as possible.”<\/p>\n

Baker\u2019s statement continued:<\/p>\n

“And not only did NCAA members vote unanimously to implement the age-based eligibility change in this way, the Ohio Court of Appeals just recently agreed with that decision.<\/p>\n

“The Ohio Court of Appeals isn\u2019t alone in siding with the NCAA on this issue. Multiple appellate courts have now recognized the importance of consistently applying NCAA eligibility rules and the significant disruption that results when eligibility standards vary from institution to institution or state to state.<\/p>\n

“The NCAA will protect the interests of all member institutions and student-athletes.”<\/p>\n

\"Charlie <\/p>\n

FILE – NCAA President Charlie Baker speaks during the organizations Division I Business Session at their annual convention Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo\/George Walker IV,File)<\/p>\n

There was no immediate response from any of Ohio\u2019s eight Division I programs, including Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State, Big 12 member Cincinnati and six Mid-American Conference schools.<\/p>\n

JUDGE GRANTS INJUNCTION AGAINST NCAA, SEC, ALLOWING ATHLETES WITH NFL TIES ELIGIBLE TO PLAY FOR LSU, OTHERS<\/a><\/p>\n

The executive order is reminiscent of California\u2019s decision to clear the way for name, image and likeness compensation<\/a> by passing a state law that other states quickly followed with similar measures. The NCAA was essentially forced to allow NIL payments for thousands of athletes.<\/p>\n

The NCAA eligibility rule is being challenged in multiple courtrooms across the country, with plaintiffs saying it is both unfair to the class of 2022 and deprives them of the chance to earn money off their celebrity through NIL deals and share in revenue now flowing from schools to their athletes under the House settlement.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE<\/a><\/p>\n

The Ohio order came the same day a key eligibility case, Wisne v. NCAA<\/a>, saw a new development involving how the players would establish the economic harm they say they suffered as a result of the eligibility change.<\/p>\n

A lower-court judge initially sided with the players, granting all NCAA athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 a fifth year of eligibility for the current school year.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan <\/p>\n

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day leads the team onto the field for the start of an NCAA college football game against Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo\/Jay LaPrete)<\/p>\n

An appeals court blocked that ruling and its full hearing came in front of a three-judge panel of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, which did not immediately rule. All three asked multiple questions to plaintiff attorney Robert Shelquist over the plaintiffs\u2019 attempts to define the market for the players.<\/p>\n

THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW\u2013UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!<\/a><\/p>\n

That definition would be key to determining how the players are being harmed by being declared ineligible. It\u2019s the benchmark the judges said was key to winning an antitrust lawsuit such as this.<\/p>\n

\"President <\/p>\n

President Donald Trump, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and head coach Ryan Day attend a ceremony with the 2025 College Football Playoff national champions Ohio State Buckeyes on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, April 14, 2025. (Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

If the judges rule in favor of the NCAA, it would set what could be an important precedent but would not necessarily end the legal wrangling.<\/p>\n

OUTKICK IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE FOX NEWS APP: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD<\/a><\/p>\n

After they blocked the initial ruling, cases in state courts across the country went on \u2014 most notably one in Louisiana that led LSU to look into<\/a> bringing on two football players who had spent time this summer in NFL training camps. More recently, the NCAA has won cases in Kentucky, Ohio and Arizona.<\/p>\n

With the Ohio executive order, more litigation could be on the horizon.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NCAA president pressed on NIL paydays, Protect College Sports Act NCAA president Charlie Baker discusses NIL paydays and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1027649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,26413,49,51074,48,118034,9,695],"class_list":["post-1027648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-mike-dewine","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-fb","tag-ncaa-football","tag-outkick-sports","tag-sports","tag-trending-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117441328019986070","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1027648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1027649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1027648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1027648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1027648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}