Big changes coming for college football
College programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision will have an early signing period later this year and can add a 10th assistant coach early next year.
The NCAA’s Division I Council voted on multiple proposals Friday in Indianapolis, which culminated the two-day meetings that addressed bundled legislation.
“Today’s adoption of the football legislation marks the most significant progress in recent years to improve the football environment and culture for current and prospective student-athletes and coaches,” NCAA Council chair and Northwestern vice president for athletics Jim Phillips said on the NCAA website. “Importantly, the action of the NCAA Division I Council delivers on the charge of the Division I Board of Directors to comprehensively improve the football recruiting environment.
“This affirms that the new Division I governance structure can effectively and timely address important issues.”
Here are the more notable changes scheduled to take place:
› FBS schools can hire a 10th assistant coach, effective Jan. 9, 2018, which is something Alabama coach Nick Saban has desired for a while now.
“I know there are people out there who complain about staff sizes,” Saban said Friday night in a news conference, “but we actually have the fewest number of coaches per player of any sport in college. Having a 10th coach will balance the staff better. You can have a special teams coach and not have a position coach double up to do that.”
› The recruiting calendar will include an early signing period in mid-December, which will become effective Aug. 1 if aproved by the Collegiate Commissioners Association, which administers the national letter of intent program and is scheduled to meet in June.
› A period for official visits has been added. It will begin April 1 of a prospect’s junior year and end the Sunday before the last Wednesday in June of that year. Official visits will not occur in conjunction with a prospect’s participation in a school’s camp or clinic. This also becomes effective Aug. 1.
› FBS schools are prohibited from hiring people close to a prospective student-athlete for a two-year period before and after the student’s anticipated and actual enrollment at the school. This applies to the hiring of analysts and support staff but not full-time assistant coaches. This change is effective immediately, but schools can honor contracts signed before Jan. 18, 2017.
“I have a hard time with that as a son of a high school coach and a guy who has seen tons of high school coaches go on to greater success — Hugh Freeze, Gus Malzahn, Jeremy Pruitt,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “The list goes on and on. They’ll argue that they’re not being cut out of it, only the ones who have
prospects, but is that fair to cut out a guy, because he has a prospect, from an opportunity to develop his career and move on?”
› FBS schools are limited to signing 25 prospective and current student-athletes to a first-time financial aid agreement or a national letter of intent. Exceptions exclude current student-athletes who have been enrolled full-time at the school for at least two years and prospective or current student-athletes who suffer an incapacitating injury. This is effective for prospects who sign after Aug. 1, 2017.
› Effective immediately, FBS coaches are limited to 10 days of participation in camps and clinics during June and July, and the camps must take place on a school’s campus or in facilities regularly used by the school for practice or competition. Staff members with football-specific responsibilities are subject to the same restrictions.
› Two-a-day practices during preseason camp have been eliminated.
“Player safety was the reason this was discussed,” Saban said. “A decision got made by medical folks that there were more injuries at two-a-days because we condensed the practices. I guess there was some feeling that by spreading out the practices out more would be beneficial, but I personally think our season is way too long and that making the season longer is not a good thing for the players.”
One Championship Subdivision proposal defeated Friday was the addition of a permanent 12th game.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.