Does anyone know how this relates to initial counters though? I understand that his scholarship would immediately kick over to football if he ever played in a game (Butch Davis rule) but since we’re nowhere near the 85 total scholarship limit, that doesn’t bother me. What does concern me would be if he would use up an IC spot should he ever play. Let’s say he’s in the program for a couple of years but never sees the field. Then as a third year player, he earns some playing time. Would he be using an IC during that third season even if he’s technically been on campus for years?
The issue is much more about ICs (25) than counters (85 in non-exempt years).
IC counts the first time you offer financial aid. Obviously, out of the gate, he would have an EQUIVALENCY (and highly-likely PARTIAL) scholarship with baseball. As long as he does not PLAY in a football game, he would not count as an IC for football. Essentially, he is a "walk-on".
However, once he PLAYS in a football game, the rules require he count as an IC for football. Football is a HEADCOUNT (full-ride) scholarship sport. And once he plays and counts as an IC, you might as well give him a full-ride scholarship and let the partial-scholarship baseball money go to another baseball player.
However, I believe that after 2 years, if he then DID play football, he would no longer count as a football IC, as he would have met the on-campus residency requirements. To use a different example, it's the Jimmy Graham comparison. When he started to play football for UM, he did NOT count as an IC.
The most important aspect here would be "how is he developing as a baseball player". If, after 2 years, it looks like he could go back into the draft, it might not be worthwhile to put a lot of eggs in the QB basket for just 1 more year, unless he WANTED to play QB (and a few recent NCAA guys have definitely chosen QB over baseball). If it doesn't look like he would be a Top 100 baseball draftee as a junior, and has a higher ceiling at QB, then convert him to a full football scholarship and push hard for playing time.