NCAA adopts early signing period, 10th coach

INDIANAPOLIS — College football recruiting is on the verge of getting a whole new look before the end of this year.

The NCAA’s Division I Council approved a sweeping package Friday that would allow players to sign with schools as early as December, allow high school juniors to take official visits from April through June and impose a two-year waiting period before Bowl Subdivision schools can hire people close to recruits to non-coaching positions.

If the package is approved by the Board of Governors on April 26, the signing period change would take effect Aug. 1. The Collegiate Commissioners Association also would have to approve the dates, a move expected to happen in June.

There had been talk of having two early signing periods — June and December. But the coaches balked at the summer proposal. Big 12 Commissioner Bob

Bowlsby, chairman of the Division I football oversight committee, promised that the committee would look for other options, perhaps even a 60-day signing window in the fall, to address growing concerns about several issues, including staged signing day spectacles.

Some contended the early visit period should be limited to April, but representatives from the Student-Athlete Advisory Council won the fight to make it three months.

The council also approved a proposal to cap contact practices to once daily — no more “two-adays” with hitting — that would take effect immediately upon approval.

Another rule change up for final approval by the board includes adding a 10th assistant football coach, which would not go into effect until after the upcoming season.

The two-year waiting period on hires applies to before and after the athlete’s enrollment at the school. That provision was adopted in men’s basketball in 2010.

More changes could be coming next year, too.

Bowlsby said his committee may look at redefining what constitutes a “full” practice and a standardized 14-week format that would require two byes for each FBS team.