Some quick notes on football recruiting rules

[Buffnik]

Some things changed when new rules were voted in a couple years ago to add the December signing period and with the creation of the transfer portal. I was reading up since I was confused by a couple things and wanted to make sure we were all on the same page.

Here's how I understand things as they currently stand:

1. The limit of 85 total football players under scholarship still stands.

2. The limit of 25 total new football scholarships awarded in a year still stands.

3. The maximum number of early enrollees (aka, "greenshirts") that can count back to the previous year's 25 limit is 5 (only if the previous year was under the 25 limit and there's room).

4. All transfers now count as an initial scholarship and are part of the 25 limit for the year. That includes JUCO transfers, regular transfers and even grad transfers.

5. It appears that the rule on awarding a scholarship to a walk-on has not changed. If put on scholarship during his first 2 years, that scholarship goes against the 25 limit of initial counters. If awarded after 2 years then the player does not go into the initial counter calculation.

6. Rules on redshirts/ grayshirts/ blueshirts didn't seem to change other than the implementation of the new rule that a guy could appear in up to 4 games without it counting as a season of eligibility.

7. Official visit calendar was changed to allow OVs from April thru June of the recruit's junior year. Recruits can still take a maximum of 5 OVs total.

Anything I missed or got wrong?

 

[CPVbuff]

Some things changed when new rules were voted in a couple years ago to add the December signing period and with the creation of the transfer portal. I was reading up since I was confused by a couple things and wanted to make sure we were all on the same page.

Here's how I understand things as they currently stand:

1. The limit of 85 total football players under scholarship still stands.

2. The limit of 25 total new football scholarships awarded in a year still stands.

3. The maximum number of early enrollees (aka, "greenshirts") that can count back to the previous year's 25 limit is 5 (only if the previous year was under the 25 limit and there's room).

4. All transfers now count as an initial scholarship and are part of the 25 limit for the year. That includes JUCO transfers, regular transfers and even grad transfers.

5. It appears that the rule on awarding a scholarship to a walk-on has not changed. If put on scholarship during his first 2 years, that scholarship goes against the 25 limit of initial counters. If awarded after 2 years then the player does not go into the initial counter calculation.

6. Rules on redshirts/ grayshirts/ blueshirts didn't seem to change other than the implementation of the new rule that a guy could appear in up to 4 games without it counting as a season of eligibility.

7. Official visit calendar was changed to allow OVs from April thru June of the recruit's junior year. Recruits can still take a maximum of 5 OVs total.

Anything I missed or got wrong?

That’s great info Nik. Thanks for researching. Is the only difference between an official visit and a non official visit, who pays the cost of travel and lodging. Otherwise the school can cover all other associated expenses?

 

[Dorn09]

So in theory, you could have open scholarships you can't fill if you were to get hit hard with attrition unless you award them to walk ins. Is that your understanding as well?

 

[Buffnik]

So in theory, you could have open scholarships you can't fill if you were to get hit hard with attrition unless you award them to walk ins. Is that your understanding as well?

Yes. For example, let's say that a program has a senior class that was going to result in 20 scholarships being available after they graduated. Then, let's say that same program had 10 players lost to attrition (medical retirement, transfer, early NFL draft entry, early graduation, whatever). That leaves them with only 55 of the 85 scholarship spots allotted for the next season. So they'd have 30 openings and the NCAA would only allow them to bring in 25 initial counters. Unless they were under 25 the previous year and can fill those open slots with early enrollees, they'd be left with 2 options: 1) blueshirt signees who, as long as they haven't taken an OV anywhere, can be signed and count toward next year's 25 (but they have to redshirt or they count toward this year); or, 2) granting of scholarships to walk-ons who are on the roster.

This is something that seems to be under debate right now since the scenario you brought up makes it less than ideal.

What they've tried to do when they opened up that transfer portal is build in things that limit how many guys a school can take in order to avoid a free-for-all. It doesn't seem to be working, though. The other big debate topic is the 4-game redshirt rule -- it's being used in ways they didn't anticipate. We've seen a lot of players check out on their teams after playing in 4 games as they decide to transfer. Also, Dana was having a bad season at Houston so he and his QB decided to let the backup play the rest of this year after 4 appearances by this starter. This preserved the starter's eligibility so they could load up for next season.

 

[Buffnik]

That’s great info Nik. Thanks for researching. Is the only difference between an official visit and a non official visit, who pays the cost of travel and lodging. Otherwise the school can cover all other associated expenses?

Pretty much. School can pay for travel, lodging, meals, etc. for the player and parent/guardian when it's an official visit. Unofficial visits are on the recruit's dime.

With so many recruits committing over the summer these days, allowing OVs in the spring was seen as better for the recruits. Also, it was good for CU since there's a cost associated with visiting Boulder for the talent we're trying to get -- that makes it a lot harder to get players to unofficially visit or camp here as compared to places situated in a recruiting hotbed like Miami or USC where they can Uber to campus from their home.

 

[Big Jim]

Also, Dana was having a bad season at Houston so he and his QB decided to let the backup play the rest of this year after 4 appearances by this starter. This preserved the starter's eligibility so they could load up for next season.

I‘ve seen this example used to demonstrate why the 4 game RS rule is bad or has bad unintended consequences, but I don’t understand why it is bad.

 

[Dorn09]

Yes. For example, let's say that a program has a senior class that was going to result in 20 scholarships being available after they graduated. Then, let's say that same program had 10 players lost to attrition (medical retirement, transfer, early NFL draft entry, early graduation, whatever). That leaves them with only 55 of the 85 scholarship spots allotted for the next season. So they'd have 30 openings and the NCAA would only allow them to bring in 25 initial counters. Unless they were under 25 the previous year and can fill those open slots with early enrollees, they'd be left with 2 options: 1) blueshirt signees who, as long as they haven't taken an OV anywhere, can be signed and count toward next year's 25 (but they have to redshirt or they count toward this year); or, 2) granting of scholarships to walk-ons who are on the roster.

This is something that seems to be under debate right now since the scenario you brought up makes it less than ideal.

What they've tried to do when they opened up that transfer portal is build in things that limit how many guys a school can take in order to avoid a free-for-all. It doesn't seem to be working, though. The other big debate topic is the 4-game redshirt rule -- it's being used in ways they didn't anticipate. We've seen a lot of players check out on their teams after playing in 4 games as they decide to transfer. Also, Dana was having a bad season at Houston so he and his QB decided to let the backup play the rest of this year after 4 appearances by this starter. This preserved the starter's eligibility so they could load up for next season.

I hate this. The potential of unused scholarships is to great. I understand that the ncaa is trying to prevent over signing but this is dumb. Just make the rule you can't sign over the 85 limit.

 

[Coach Primes Burner]

This thread should be pinned to the sticky threads for future reference.

I just don't get why players who have played at one school for a year or more and then transfer count as an initial counter at the new school as well. In essence they are an initial counter twice. In the case of Alfano, I believe Alabama can replace his counter at the beginning of the spring semester which makes sense since he didn't last there for a semester.

 

[Buffnik]

I‘ve seen this example used to demonstrate why the 4 game RS rule is bad or has bad unintended consequences, but I don’t understand why it is bad.

Agreed. It's definitely an unintended consequence, but I don't know that it is bad. UH worked the system, but if the HC and QB agreed that this was best for him and the program -- who cares?