Friday, February 16, 2018

Michigan Friday: A Quick Look At The New Recruiting Rules

I was looking at some recruiting news and saw a tweet from a 2019 kid that said he was going to take an official visit to Ann Arbor in April.   My first reaction, was what?  Then I remembered with the new early NSD and the new 10th assistant coach, that there are some other new rules like earlier official visits.  

Since I wanted to find out the new information, I thought you might be interested as well:

  • A new period for official visits that on begins April 1 of the junior year and ends the Sunday before the last Wednesday in June of that year. Official visits can’t occur in conjunction with a prospect’s participation in a school’s camp or clinic.   This is a big change and will save prospect money as most players were taking un-official visits during this time.   In the past, you had to be in your senior year to take an official visit.   Great new rule. 


    • It prevents Football Bowl Subdivision schools 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 provision was adopted in men’s basketball in 2010.   This is the Chris Partridge rule.   :-(


    • It limits the time for Football Bowl Subdivision coaches to participate in camps and clinics to 10 days in June and July and requires that the camps 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. The Football Championship Subdivision can conduct and participate in camps during the months of June and July.  This is the Harbaugh Satellite camp rule.  :-(


    • It allows coaches employed at a camp or clinic to have recruiting conversations with prospects participating in camps and clinics and requires educational sessions at all camps and clinics detailing initial eligibility standards, gambling rules, agent rules and drug regulations.  Seems like a good rule.


    • Football Bowl Subdivision 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.  Does this rule now stop over signing?  Or is there still ways a team could sign 35 players in a class?


    These seem like good rules.  I like the official visit rule the best as kids were going out of pocket (if they could) to see these schools during the spring/summer.   It's also hard for kids to take visiting during the season as they are playing games on Friday night and then trying to get to a game the next afternoon. 


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