NCAA Football Recruiting Guidelines

Football players are recruited by college football programs from Division II up to Division I-A that may offer college scholarships to the players. The amount of contact permitted between either coaches or other representatives of the college football team and the players is regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Restrictions on contact are very strict during the first two years of a player's high school years. The rules then permit phone calls and personal contact after a player enters his junior year.

  1. Number of Scholarships

    • Each Division I-A college football program is allowed to offer up to 85 scholarships for football each year. Division I-AA college football programs can offer 63 scholarships. Division II college football programs are limited to 36 scholarships per year.
      Division I-A college football programs are required to award 76.5 college football scholarships each year to maintain their Division I-A status. Partial scholarships may be awarded instead of full scholarships. There are no minimums for Division I-AA and Division II programs.

    Over-Signing

    • NCAA recruiting regulations limit college football teams to signing 25 players to football scholarships each year, with certain exceptions. A team can not sign more than 25 players to scholarships in a given year if it has used the full 25 in the previous year. If the team used fewer than 25 scholarships the previous year, the additional players above 25 for the new season must enroll in December of the year before the football season in which they intend to play. Regardless of how many players a college signs, they must remain below the maximum permitted number of scholarships. Over-signing is done to prepare for the possibility that some players who were offered scholarships fail to qualify academically, or to make up for previous years where the school could not sign their full allotment.

    Contacting High School Recruits

    • No representatives of a college football program may contact high school freshmen or sophomores directly. The only contact permitted with these players is through questionnaires and football camp brochures. Once a player is a junior is high school, recruiting materials may be sent starting Sept. 1. One phone call can be made from a member of the football program's staff when the player is a junior, and that is allowed between April 15 and May 31.
      High school seniors may be contacted more often by college football recruiters. Telephone calls may be made starting on Sept. 1 during the player's senior year, but only one per week is permitted. During an allowed contact period, coaches and staff from schools are not limited as to how often they may contact the recruit on the phone. During these contact periods, off-campus visits can be made in person after July 1. A student may make an official visit to the school any time after the first day of their senior year of classes.