Vote on 10th football coach, early signing period, & camps could come today

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The NCAA Division I Council begins meeting today in Indianapolis, with a number of potentially sweeping changes for college football being put up for a vote.

Any legislation enacted by the Division I Council today faces final approval from the NCAA Board of Directors, but this could be a watershed week for college football recruiting and coaching.

Here's an overview of the proposed pieces of legislation:

1. Early signing period proposal: Currently, only mid-year junior college transfers are allowed to sign with four-year schools during the mid-December signing period. The new proposal would open that 72-hour period to high school seniors, creating a second signing period in addition to the one that already begins on the first Wednesday in February. A third proposed signing date -- in June prior to a recruit's senior year of high school -- was previously voted down. At the American Football Coaches Association convention in San Antonio in January, dozens of FBS coaches spoke out in favor of adding the December signing period. (NOTE: The Division I Council can only recommend the change to the Collegiate Commissioners Association, which governs the National Letter of Intent program. The CCA would then have the enact the change on its own).

2. 10th assistant coach for football effective date: The ability of FBS programs to hire a 10th on-field assistant coach -- they are now limited to nine -- was first proposed last year, with the thought it would be effective immediately once approved by the Division I Council. A handful of schools hired qualified assistant coaches in off-field roles, with the thought they could be moved on-field once the 10th assistant coach legislation was passed. However, some schools expressed concern that having to make an immediate hire of a coach with a six-figure salary would tax athletic department budgets. The proposal before the D1 Council this week would make the addition of the 10th assistant coach effective on Jan. 8, 2018.

3. Early official visit limitations -- Under this proposal, football recruits could take official visits only in April of their junior year of high school. Currently, those visits can take place any time from April 1 through late June.

4. Signing limit exemption -- Under this proposal, if a signee becomes injured or ill to the point that he or she must give up football, that signee would not count toward that year's recruiting class signing limit of 25. In the past, schools were not able to replace a signee who was deemed unable to continue playing football prior to participating in organized team activities.

5. Hiring of "Individuals Associated With Prospective Student-Athletes" -- This is a controversial proposal, about which Gus Malzahn, Nick Saban and other FBS coaches have already spoken out. Under this proposal, a school cannot hire a high school, prep school, junior college coach or "other individual associated with" prospective student-athletes to an off-field or strength & conditioning position for a two-year period before a prospect enrolls and a two-year period after. This means no more high school coaches getting hired as analysts by college programs where a prominent player from that school signs, the route to college football taken by Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze and Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, among others. If college programs want to hire a high school coach, they would have to do so to an on-field position.

6. Removing FCS programs from signing limit -- Currently, FCS schools can sign up to 30 recruits each year. The proposal would remove that limit, with the rationale being that FCS schools are not typically guilty of over-signing. The 25-player recruiting class limit for FBS schools would remain in place.

7. The end of satellite camps -- Under this proposal, an individual FBS school's camps or clinics would be limited to a 10-day period in June or July. No more month-long camp tour, a la Michigan's Jim Harbaugh last year. In addition, the dead period between the last Wednesday in June and the end of July would be removed for FCS programs only. Currently, FCS programs can only hold camps or clinics during July or during weeks that include days in June (for example, May 28-June 3). Because camps are such a big recruiting tool at the FCS level, not allowing recruiting camps during the bulk of June were viewed as an unnecessary restriction.

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