College football player cleared for historic 9th season

It's been a while since Cam McCormick started his college football career, a long while

Miami Hurricanes tight end Cam McCormick will return for a historic ninth season playing college football when the 2024 campaign kicks off. That's after he made history by completing his eighth season in 2023, tied with NIU's Kyle Pugh for the longest tenure by any college football player in FBS history.

But in 2024, the nine-year player will hold that distinction all by himself.

McCormick initially committed to Oregon back in the 2016 recruiting class, when Mark Helfrich was head coach of the Ducks program. He spent seven years there, but injuries continuously slowed his progress, ending his season in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, and he didn't play at all during the 2019 or 2020 seasons.

• 2016: McCormick redshirts
• 2017: Redshirt freshman
• 2018: Injury ended season
• 2019: Missed season (injury)
• 2020: Covid provides extra year
• 2021: Missed season (injury)
• 2022: Plays 7 games at Oregon
• 2023: Plays 5 games at Miami

In total, McCormick played 23 games, or around two full seasons of action all told, redshirting in 2016 and the 2020 football didn't count against eligibility after the NCAA ruled the Covid-19 pandemic wouldn't affect a player's time as an amateur.

Despite his eligibility being exhausted after the 2022 football season, the NCAA gave McCormick two medical hardship years, and he transferred to Miami in a reunion with former Oregon and now Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal.

How long ago did McCormick begin his college football career? When he pledged to Oregon, Lincoln Riley had just taken the OC job at Oklahoma, Mark Richt was the coach at Georgia, Kirby Smart was DC at Alabama, and Nebraska had just fired Bo Pelini.

McCormick is enrolled in Miami's post-baccalaureate program and he earned a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Communication and a Master's in Advertising and Brand Responsibility at Oregon.

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