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NCAA Division I recruiting is about to get a little different

By Derek Helling

Apr 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh looks on during the spring game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh looks on during the spring game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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A bevy of new regulations involving camps, scholarship limits, an additional coaching position and structure for an early signing period have taken the next step forward.

Several substantial football recruiting changes aren’t finalized yet, but it appears that they will be approved later this month after getting the green light from the NCAA Division I Council. The changes could be considered sweeping, in both opportunities for coaches to recruit and incur violations.

What’s new in the proposed changes

According to a press release from the NCAA, here are the changes that the council has recommended to the Board of Directors and Collegiate Commissioners Association for final approval:

  • FBS programs can hire a 10th assistant coach starting January 9, 2018.
  • Coaches representing DI football programs at camps/clinics can discuss recruitment with participants. They must have educational sessions for participants on the NCAA’s drug policy, gambling policy, agent rules and eligibility rules at those camps/clinics if they are going to recruit there, however.
  • FBS coaches or other school staff members with football-specific responsibilities can only participate in camps/clinics for 10 days during the months of June and July. FCS coaches and staff members can also participate in camps/clinics during the same two months.
  • Schools can honor host contracts for camps/clinics signed prior to January 18, but barring those exempt agreements, all camps/clinics must be located at team facilities or on the school’s campus.
  • Beginning August 1, the limit for first-time scholarship or national letter of intent signings for FBS programs is 25. Students who had already been enrolled full-time at the school for two years and either current or prospective students who sustained injuries which make them unable to play are exempt.
  • Just as in DI men’s basketball, football programs can’t hire family members of current or prospective players for a period of two years before and/or after the student’s enrollment at the school. Contracts offered before January 18 would be exempt.
  • Prospective players can take official visits beginning on April 1 of their junior years until the Sunday before the last Wednesday of June in the same calendar year. The visits can’t be in conjunction with participation in camps/clinics.
  • An early signing period in December, starting in 2017, has been created.

Related Story: NCAA early recruitment restrictions could be tested in lacrosse this year

The Collegiate Commissioners Association will set the exact dates for the early signing period in December if they approve of the change. Additionally, there is some vague language in the new policy regulating where camps and clinics can be held. All the policy states is that they have to either take place on campus or at a place the team “regularly” uses for games and/or practice. Exactly how regularly isn’t specified.

If these changes are approved, expect the month of December to become a very busy time in the world of college football recruiting.

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