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Can The NCAA Drain The Recruiting Swamp?

Can The NCAA Drain The Recruiting Swamp?

New NCAA Rules Try To Drain Recruiting Swamp   President Trump surely has not drained the swamp in DC but maybe the NCAA can do a better job this time.  In another move to clean up recruiting the D1 Council passed some new regulations today.  Some of these are pretty darn good ideas we think.  But will they affect recruiting and the stability of the process and the game?  Let me weigh in on these changes in order.


The new rules Change the recruiting calendar to allow for an early signing period in December (effective Aug. 1).   Final rules pending on this one but it sounds like there will be a 72 hour period to allow for our high school recruits going D1 to lock down early and make it official.

  • Analysis:  It is about time. Many athletes know what they want.  This should take a large % of the best recruits off the board early and this will allow for colleges to understand who they have for sure and what positions they need help at.  Now January can be used to refocus and recruit other athletes. We love this rule and the early signing period helps kids.  It is good for schools and kids and it has worked in other sports.  Downside?  If a Coach is fired or leaves the kids could end up at a school they are not wanted at anymore.  But coaches leave all the time (Chip Kelly / Steve Sarkisian).

 

The New Rules add a period for official visits that begins April 1 of the junior year and ends the Sunday before the last Wednesday in June of that year.   

  • Analysis:  Simple on this one.  More time and more options for the official visits are a good thing.  These visits are very hard to do once the season starts and before signing day.

The new rule prevents Football Bowl Subdivision schools from hiring people close to a prospective student-athlete for a 2 year period before and after the student’s anticipated and actual enrollment at the school.  

  • Analysis – THANK YOU!  This gets abused – The Blind Side is one example where the Coach Hugh Freeze of Briar Crest Christian was employed and offered a tidy sum to leave with his star player, Michael Oher.  I have several other stories I can tell of boosters kids getting hired, players Dads getting jobs, etc etc etc.  This crap was way over due to be halted.  If the NCAA schools really want to get a top recruit through doing favors for their families and coaches they will just leave a briefcase full of cash somewhere for them.

• 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. 

  • Analysis:  Schools were over signing athletes and this led to many kids not making it onto the fields at all.  There are a couple of nuances here but this is a good move for the kids’ sake.

The Rules allow coaches employed at a camp or clinic to have recruiting conversations with campers at camps and clinics and requires educational sessions at all camps and clinics detailing initial eligibility standards, gambling rules, agent rules and drug regulations (effective immediately).

  • Analysis:  Few coaches at these camps obeyed the old rules; it was impossible.  Now the gloves come off and we can get to it.  This is a great change and recruits will be feeling the love!  Education and camps?  Ok, we like that too.  Good job NCAA.

• It allows all FBS schools to hire a 10th Assistant Coach. 

  • Analysis:  Well this created 128 jobs Nationwide.  This is a good thing for football.  More coaches mean more teaching, better technique, and God knows they work hard enough.  This will be a good move for all concerned.

The Rules limit the time for FBS 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 (effective immediately, though schools may honor contracts signed before Jan. 18, 2017).

  • Analysis:  OK so this is a biggie.  What this means is that camps like the NWEFC / RDAF showcase / NW Best Showcase held at high school field or sports complex will no longer have D1 Coaches.   The big colleges would appear to be limited to having a camp at their campuses and or practice facilities in June and July!  This rule is designed to kill the Satellite Camp Businesses which so often over promises and under-delivers and it will stop Jim Harbaugh and guys like Willie Taggart from holding “pop up camps” all over the world.
  • Will kids be hurt by this?  From the standpoint they have fewer opportunities to be seen – Yes – they will be hurt.  On the flip side of that is the fact that kids and Parents will not be pressured into paying for camps that have all too often become “Cattle Calls” with so many athletes and so few coaches that no one stands out or gets reps; this there is no real value to these camps.
  • This rule is murky and we have calls out to several people to see what these rules actually will do.
  • This may lead to showcases with Big Sky schools and D2 and down and this is a good thing.
  • WE HAVE MAINTAINED THAT MOST D1 Offers are NOT the result of a Satellite Camp Appearances.

Decisions are not final until the close of the Division I Board of Directors meeting April 26 and the Collegiate Commissioners Association also has to approve the early signing period.

We do not recommend paying for any Satellite Camps until the Smoke Clears after April 26th.

EDITORS NOTE  Last season the NW Best Showcase was held in Portland, Oregon and had some 20 D1 Schools and the NWEFC Camp was held in the Seattle area with many D1 Coaches too and both Camps were on the same day.  This year they are both on the same day too.

WE RECOMMEND TO ALL PARENTS, HS COACHES, AND ATHLETES – DO NOT SIGN UP FOR EITHER CAMP UNTIL THEY DECLARE WHAT SCHOOLS THEY HAVE AND WHAT CHANGES THESE NEW RULES WILL BE ADDING.  

NWPR will verify with the schools who is attending the camps.  

read More on this matter here

http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2017-04-14/college-football-di-council-adopts-new-recruiting-model

I am the Founder of the Northwest Prep Report. For 17 years I have led the way to the best of my ability to promote the best talent from the Pacific NW free of charge. It is my pleasure to continue to serve High School athletes from all over the Pacific NW and beyond. Formerly with Rivals.com my sites have now crossed over 8,000 stories, 7 MILLION Video Views, and 15,000 regular followers. Together with the best football people in the USA we pursue excellence for our NW athletes.

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