Football Recruiting Rules

Each year, colleges scramble to recruit the hottest talent out of high school football as they seek to add a new generation of talent to their program. Due to the competition between schools to sign student-athletes with the most potential, the NCAA has set out a complicated system of rules designed to protect the athlete and ensure fairness in the recruitment process.

  1. Scholarships

    • The NCAA allows Division 1A college football programs to have 85 football players on scholarships at any one time. To retain Division 1A status a program must have 76.5 scholarship football players. Division 1AA programs are permitted to have 63 players on athletic scholarships while Division 2 colleges may have 36. This means that the NCAA allows a total of 23,157 football scholarships throughout the college game at any one time.

    Contact

    • The NCAA states exactly how much contact college recruiters can have with prospective athletes. The year is divided into four recruiting and four non-recruiting periods. During a contact period, recruiters may contact athletes in person, by phone or by email/letter. During an evaluation period they may assess academic and playing abilities but not meet with a candidate off campus though they may make a limited number of phone calls and email contacts. During a quiet period any meetings must be on campus and other contact is again limited. During a dead period no evaluations or visits are permitted but a limited number of phone calls and emails are allowed.

    Academic Criteria

    • Recruitment candidates must maintain good grades to be eligible for a scholarship. Grades must meet the minimum standard for the college in question and this is judged on criteria such as grade point averages and test scores.

    Professionalism

    • Should a student engage in any professional sport they will lose their eligibility to play NCAA college sports. Any kind of payment of athletic work is strictly prohibited as are contracts with agents. No expenses, gifts or sponsorship endorsements are allowed as no student can be seen to be seeking profit financially from their athletic abilities while in high school or college.

    Official Visits

    • Official visits must be restricted to players in their final year of high school and can only happen at the written request of the college. Before the visit, the student must provide a high school transcript and proof that the SAT or ACT has been taken. Each student is allowed only one visit to each school with expenses paid and can only claim compensation for five visits in total. The visit must not exceed 48 hours and colleges may only spend $30 dollars entertaining the candidate and his family.