Behind the Blue Disk

Division I Football Recruiting

What is oversigning? Oversigning occurs when a team signs more student-athletes to a

National Letter of Intent than the number of scholarships it has to offer. Teams in the Division

I Football Bowl Subdivision are allowed to sign 28 new student-athletes each year, but may only offer 25 new scholarships each year. Coaches who choose to oversign may anticipate some student-athletes failing to qualify academically or dropping out of school. Some conferences and schools do not allow oversigning.

What are redshirting and grayshirting? Redshirting and grayshirting are delays in a student-athlete’s participation with a team. Typically, a student-athlete is eligible to compete in a certain sport for four years. However, a student-athlete may wait to compete for up to two years, extending his or her eligibility to five or six years. During a redshirt year, a student-athlete is signed to a team, enrolls at the start of a school’s academic year and practices, but does not compete. In a grayshirt situation, a student-athlete attends college classes but is not an official member of a team and does not practice or compete.

Why would a student-athlete choose to redshirt or grayshirt? There are many reasons student-athletes choose to redshirt. They may want to gain a year of practice with the team or add size and strength before competing. They may redshirt if playing opportunities at their position are limited. If a student-athlete loses the majority of a season to injury, he or she may apply for a hardship waiver, known as a medical redshirt. Typically, student-athletes choose to grayshirt if they are injured just before college and need a full year to recuperate.

When can a college coach begin the recruiting process? A coach may observe the football activity of a prospective student-athlete who has entered the ninth grade as long as the observation occurs during a contact or evaluation period.

When can a college coach publicly discuss a recruit? A college coach cannot publicly discuss a prospective student-athlete until the student-athlete has either signed a National Letter of Intent or a written offer of admission or financial aid with the school. Prospective student-athletes can discuss the schools recruiting them at any time.

What is the NCAA’s perspective on scouting services? The NCAA has developed specific rules regarding scouting services to preserve competitive equity. A school may purchase one annual subscription to a service as long as the service is available to all schools for the same public fee, provides information about prospective student-athletes four times a year, reflects geographically broad coverage, provides individual analysis for each prospective student-athlete, gives access to samples and supplies video of regularly scheduled high school or two-year college contests.

 

Guidelines at a glance

High School Freshman/Sophomore

Recruiting Material	Questionnaires/camp brochures only
Telephone Calls	Prospective student-athletes may phone coaches at their own expense Coaches may not call prospective student-athletes
Official/Unofficial Visits	No official visits No limit on unofficial visits
Off-Campus Contact	No off-campus contact with coaching staff
Evaluations	One evaluation during September, October and November Two evaluations from April 15 through May 31, one to evaluate athletic ability and one to evaluate academic qualifications

 

High School Junior

Recruiting Material	Prospective student-athletes may begin receiving material September 1 after Sophomore year
Telephone Calls/Electronic Contact	Prospective student-athletes may phone coaches at their own expense A coach may make one call to a prospective student-athlete between April 15 and May 31
Official/Unofficial Visits	No official visits No limit on unofficial visits
Off-Campus Contact	No off-campus contact with coaching staff
Evaluations	One evaluation during September, October and November Two evaluations from April 15 through May 31, one to evaluate athletic ability and one to evaluate academic qualifications

 

High School Senior

Recruiting Material	No limit on recruiting material
Telephone Calls/Electronic Contact	A coach may make one call a week to a prospective student-athlete beginning September 1
Official/Unofficial Visits	Prospective student-athletes may begin taking official visits when their high school classes begin Prospective student-athletes are allowed one official visit to a college with a maximum of five official visits to Divisions I and II colleges No limit on unofficial visits
Off-Campus Contact	Off-campus contact may begin the Sunday after the last Saturday in November A coach may contact a prospective student-athlete or his parents/legal guardians six times including off-campus evaluations
Evaluations	One evaluation during September, October and November Two evaluations from April 15 through May 31, one to evaluate athletic ability and one to evaluate academic qualifications