The NCAA’s Board of Directors suspended two new rules that had been adopted back in January. The rules in question govern the deregulation of who can perform recruiting tasks and what printed materials can be sent to recruits. A third rule, which allows coaches to contact recruits as often and by whatever means they choose, remains in effect for now.
2 of NCAA’s new college football recruiting rules revoked
Two rules that deregulated certain aspects of recruiting have been suspended by the NCAA after it received feedback from its member institutions.
Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE
These rules have been a hot topic within the coaching community since they were proposed, particularly among football coaches. Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher voiced his concerns about what the rules could mean for his assistant coaches:
It sounds good. But here’s the difference between football and basketball: In football, you’re recruiting 25; in basketball, you’re recruiting three or four. I’m going to tell you what, for an assistant coach’s life right now, it’s fixing to change dramatically. You’re not going to have a family life. You talk about burnout? I mean, I’m for communication and opening it up, but how are your coaches going to have a life?
And as SB Nation’s Bud Elliott noted, the rules could have ultimately put more distance between the country’s richest, most successful football programs and everybody else:
There are already whispers about schools (cough::Alabama::cough) assembling huge staffs of former or aspiring coaches who will handle nothing but recruiting, including texting recruits, calling recruits, tracking them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, evaluating them on film, talking to coaches and parents, etc.
The worry of most schools is that some will spare no expense in building a huge recruiting army, which could give them a big advantage in recruiting over schools who are either unwilling or unable to spare no expense.
That scenario is no longer possible following the rules suspensions the NCAA made Monday, which will calm some fears within the coaching community. But there are still going to be headaches involved as long as coaches are free to communicate with prospects an unlimited number of times. As Fisher noted, coaches don’t have to contact recruits constantly, but they are going to feel like they need to.
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