if a sim-coached team had a player that didn't play one season, it's pretty much a given he was ineligible that season. Sims always play their players otherwise. To check to see if he was ineligible, click on the player name to pull up his player profile. Then click Statistics. It will show Academic Non-Qualifier for that season.
If this is the case, which I bet it is, he WILL have an additional year if he keeps his grades up.