Why stakes are so high at NCAA HQ this week
The hour of reckoning is here. It's time, finally, to overhaul football recruiting.
Many months of debate -- years with some issues -- are set, in large part, to conclude this week at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.
The Division I Council is scheduled to vote Friday on Proposal No. 2016-116, a comprehensive package of rule changes developed in response to an order from the NCAA Division I board of directors -- the university presidents and chancellors who grew weary of the inefficiencies that have long plagued recruiting.
From early official visits to hiring individuals associated with recruits to the addition of a 10th assistant coach, it's all on the table. All but an early signing period, that is -- that's scheduled for a June vote.
Coaches are already out with their opinions on the proposals. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn spoke out Wednesday against the proposal to prevent hiring anyone associated with a recruit.
The Football Oversight Committee, chaired by Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, convened Wednesday afternoon for four hours of meetings. Its discussions continue Thursday.
So will all go as planned? Will the 12-member committee give the proposal a final blessing before the council vote?
"Depends on who you ask," Bowlsby said this week.
His group, with an assist from a recruiting subcommittee chaired by Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen and Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst, drafted the items in the proposal.
"I think it almost undebatable that this would be the largest package of changes in football recruiting in many, many years," Bowlsby said. "It's intended to be comprehensive."
The package requires majority approval from the 10 FBS conferences. Power 5 leagues receive two votes apiece; Group of 5 conferences get one vote.
In January at the NCAA convention, the oversight committee and the council awarded the package with a green light to April. As the final vote nears, amendments have surfaced along with some talk of splitting the package into separate votes.
"All of these things are interrelated," Bowlsby said. "That's why we've advanced it as a package and continue to believe it should be passed as a package."
Ahead of the meetings, Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips, chairman of the D-I council, and Miami AD Blake James, the incoming chairman, both declined comment until after the vote.
Are they nervous? Perhaps. Even with a positive outlook for approval, if holistic change can't pass this week, they might never navigate the NCAA red tape.
"We're not in a good place right now," said Todd Berry, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association and a nonvoting member of the Football Oversight Committee. "We need to make changes. There is no perfect legislation for everybody. The reality is, this is the opportunity for us to correct some things and then continue on the journey of trying to make it as perfect as possible down the road.
"I'm really excited about this, quite honestly. It's is the most aggressive legislation that we've seen in a long time. And it's desperately needed."
Here's a look at the items included in Proposal 2016-116:
Strict rules for individuals associated with prospects (IAWP)
If passed: Effective immediately, retroactive to include contracts signed on or after Jan. 18, 2017.
Need to know: Based on a similar model used in college basketball, this legislation is designed to eliminate hiring anyone associated with prospects for noncoaching positions.
For example, the high school coach of a prospect is not allowed to take a paid or volunteer job as an analyst or strength coach at the college recruiting that coach's prospect. An IAWP is permitted to take a job at the same college only as a full-time, on-field coach.
"It goes a long way toward cleaning up what has been a pretty unseemly environment," Bowlsby said.
Penalties for violating the IAWP rules range from permanent ineligibility of the players involved to the suspension of a head coach or assistant.
Reduction of camps and clinics
If passed: Effective immediately.
Need to know: This is a response to the proliferation of satellite camps made famous by Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh over the past two summers. A year ago, the off-campus parade of events were banned for a brief time before receiving a stay of execution from the board of directors.
Currently, camps are allowed during two 15-day periods in June or July. The new model calls for limitation to any 10 days in June (or during a calendar week that includes days in June.) Additionally, all camps and clinics must take place on college campuses, so no more staging camps at the high schools of elite prospects.
"It needed to be regulated," Nebraska coach Mike Riley said. "It was going crazy."
This won't end satellite camps, but it will greatly limit them. If passed, there is still the option for a larger, more high-profile collection of coaches from many schools gathering in June on one campus for a mega-camp. All assistant and graduate assistants who have passed the NCAA recruiting test are allowed to work camps on rival campuses.
"It creates clarity and exposure, and it creates it all out in the open," Berry said. "As a group of coaches, we have to hold each other accountable."
All camps and clinics are required to feature an instructional component.
Early official visits
If passed: Effective Aug. 1, 2017, for prospects in the 2018 recruiting class.
Need to know: Under the new model, a prospect would be allowed to take official visits, paid by the school, from April 1 of his junior year through the Sunday before the last Wednesday in June.
The SEC has proposed an amendment to limit early visits to April, citing the limited academic disruption. It is, however, more difficult to pass amendments compared to the entire package. The success or failure of the amendment also will not limit passage of the proposal overall.
Right now, official visits are not allowed before Sept. 1 of a prospect's senior year.
The early visits are designed to work in tandem with an early signing period, which is not part of the agenda this week in Indianapolis. Conference commissioners, who administer the national letter of intent, are expected to vote on a proposed December early signing period at their meetings in June.
Addition of a 10th assistant coach
If passed: Effective immediately.
Need to know: The least recruiting-centric of the proposed changes, if passed, would create a 10th full-time assistant coaching spot and could lead to a slew of promotions and hires as soon as next week.
"I think it's an absolute necessity to the product on the field and the players," Riley said.
The Mid-American Conference has proposed an amendment to delay the effective date to Jan. 9, 2018, looking to eliminate budget disruptions and a trickle-down effect of spring and summer coaching changes.
Berry said he's in favor of immediate implementation, which would allow his group to begin work in the next legislative cycles on regulation to limit the burgeoning size of support staffs.
Most programs are expected to hire from within, reducing displacement of coaches on other staffs.
Limitation of annual scholarships to 25
If passed: Effective Aug. 1, 2017, affecting newcomers in 2018.
Need to know: This is a move to do away with oversigning and to reduce the practice of grayshirting, blueshirting and greenshirting. If you're color-blind to these practices, don't worry, it likely won't matter much after this year.
The legislation would limit to 25 the number of prospects whose aid is initially offered in the fall term of an academic year. Current rules limit to 25 the number of prospects allowed to sign from Dec. 1 through May 31.
Central to the proposed changes, walk-ons who have not been enrolled for two years and transfers will both count against the 25-player limit. A walk-on awarded a scholarship after two or more years enrolled will not count against the limit.
A prospect whose scholarship paperwork specifies that he'll be offered aid in the second or third term of an academic year may count toward the current academic year or the next year.
The SEC has proposed an amendment that would allow a newcomer who, before participating in competition, is injured or ill -- to the point that he will apparently never again be able to play -- to not count against any limit.
Expanded summer dead period
If passed: Effective Aug. 1, 2017.
Need to know: The proposal calls for a dead period during the entire month of August and from the Monday before the last Wednesday of June through July 24.
The majority of this time is currently classified as a quiet period, during which time unofficial recruiting visits are permitted.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/19149025/why-stakes-high-ncaa-hq-week
The hour of reckoning is here. It's time, finally, to overhaul football recruiting.
Many months of debate -- years with some issues -- are set, in large part, to conclude this week at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.
The Division I Council is scheduled to vote Friday on Proposal No. 2016-116, a comprehensive package of rule changes developed in response to an order from the NCAA Division I board of directors -- the university presidents and chancellors who grew weary of the inefficiencies that have long plagued recruiting.
From early official visits to hiring individuals associated with recruits to the addition of a 10th assistant coach, it's all on the table. All but an early signing period, that is -- that's scheduled for a June vote.
Coaches are already out with their opinions on the proposals. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn spoke out Wednesday against the proposal to prevent hiring anyone associated with a recruit.
The Football Oversight Committee, chaired by Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, convened Wednesday afternoon for four hours of meetings. Its discussions continue Thursday.
So will all go as planned? Will the 12-member committee give the proposal a final blessing before the council vote?
"Depends on who you ask," Bowlsby said this week.
His group, with an assist from a recruiting subcommittee chaired by Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen and Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst, drafted the items in the proposal.
"I think it almost undebatable that this would be the largest package of changes in football recruiting in many, many years," Bowlsby said. "It's intended to be comprehensive."
The package requires majority approval from the 10 FBS conferences. Power 5 leagues receive two votes apiece; Group of 5 conferences get one vote.
In January at the NCAA convention, the oversight committee and the council awarded the package with a green light to April. As the final vote nears, amendments have surfaced along with some talk of splitting the package into separate votes.
"All of these things are interrelated," Bowlsby said. "That's why we've advanced it as a package and continue to believe it should be passed as a package."
Ahead of the meetings, Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips, chairman of the D-I council, and Miami AD Blake James, the incoming chairman, both declined comment until after the vote.
Are they nervous? Perhaps. Even with a positive outlook for approval, if holistic change can't pass this week, they might never navigate the NCAA red tape.
"We're not in a good place right now," said Todd Berry, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association and a nonvoting member of the Football Oversight Committee. "We need to make changes. There is no perfect legislation for everybody. The reality is, this is the opportunity for us to correct some things and then continue on the journey of trying to make it as perfect as possible down the road.
"I'm really excited about this, quite honestly. It's is the most aggressive legislation that we've seen in a long time. And it's desperately needed."
Here's a look at the items included in Proposal 2016-116:
Strict rules for individuals associated with prospects (IAWP)
If passed: Effective immediately, retroactive to include contracts signed on or after Jan. 18, 2017.
Need to know: Based on a similar model used in college basketball, this legislation is designed to eliminate hiring anyone associated with prospects for noncoaching positions.
For example, the high school coach of a prospect is not allowed to take a paid or volunteer job as an analyst or strength coach at the college recruiting that coach's prospect. An IAWP is permitted to take a job at the same college only as a full-time, on-field coach.
"It goes a long way toward cleaning up what has been a pretty unseemly environment," Bowlsby said.
Penalties for violating the IAWP rules range from permanent ineligibility of the players involved to the suspension of a head coach or assistant.
Reduction of camps and clinics
If passed: Effective immediately.
Need to know: This is a response to the proliferation of satellite camps made famous by Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh over the past two summers. A year ago, the off-campus parade of events were banned for a brief time before receiving a stay of execution from the board of directors.
Currently, camps are allowed during two 15-day periods in June or July. The new model calls for limitation to any 10 days in June (or during a calendar week that includes days in June.) Additionally, all camps and clinics must take place on college campuses, so no more staging camps at the high schools of elite prospects.
"It needed to be regulated," Nebraska coach Mike Riley said. "It was going crazy."
This won't end satellite camps, but it will greatly limit them. If passed, there is still the option for a larger, more high-profile collection of coaches from many schools gathering in June on one campus for a mega-camp. All assistant and graduate assistants who have passed the NCAA recruiting test are allowed to work camps on rival campuses.
"It creates clarity and exposure, and it creates it all out in the open," Berry said. "As a group of coaches, we have to hold each other accountable."
All camps and clinics are required to feature an instructional component.
Early official visits
If passed: Effective Aug. 1, 2017, for prospects in the 2018 recruiting class.
Need to know: Under the new model, a prospect would be allowed to take official visits, paid by the school, from April 1 of his junior year through the Sunday before the last Wednesday in June.
The SEC has proposed an amendment to limit early visits to April, citing the limited academic disruption. It is, however, more difficult to pass amendments compared to the entire package. The success or failure of the amendment also will not limit passage of the proposal overall.
Right now, official visits are not allowed before Sept. 1 of a prospect's senior year.
The early visits are designed to work in tandem with an early signing period, which is not part of the agenda this week in Indianapolis. Conference commissioners, who administer the national letter of intent, are expected to vote on a proposed December early signing period at their meetings in June.
Addition of a 10th assistant coach
If passed: Effective immediately.
Need to know: The least recruiting-centric of the proposed changes, if passed, would create a 10th full-time assistant coaching spot and could lead to a slew of promotions and hires as soon as next week.
"I think it's an absolute necessity to the product on the field and the players," Riley said.
The Mid-American Conference has proposed an amendment to delay the effective date to Jan. 9, 2018, looking to eliminate budget disruptions and a trickle-down effect of spring and summer coaching changes.
Berry said he's in favor of immediate implementation, which would allow his group to begin work in the next legislative cycles on regulation to limit the burgeoning size of support staffs.
Most programs are expected to hire from within, reducing displacement of coaches on other staffs.
Limitation of annual scholarships to 25
If passed: Effective Aug. 1, 2017, affecting newcomers in 2018.
Need to know: This is a move to do away with oversigning and to reduce the practice of grayshirting, blueshirting and greenshirting. If you're color-blind to these practices, don't worry, it likely won't matter much after this year.
The legislation would limit to 25 the number of prospects whose aid is initially offered in the fall term of an academic year. Current rules limit to 25 the number of prospects allowed to sign from Dec. 1 through May 31.
Central to the proposed changes, walk-ons who have not been enrolled for two years and transfers will both count against the 25-player limit. A walk-on awarded a scholarship after two or more years enrolled will not count against the limit.
A prospect whose scholarship paperwork specifies that he'll be offered aid in the second or third term of an academic year may count toward the current academic year or the next year.
The SEC has proposed an amendment that would allow a newcomer who, before participating in competition, is injured or ill -- to the point that he will apparently never again be able to play -- to not count against any limit.
Expanded summer dead period
If passed: Effective Aug. 1, 2017.
Need to know: The proposal calls for a dead period during the entire month of August and from the Monday before the last Wednesday of June through July 24.
The majority of this time is currently classified as a quiet period, during which time unofficial recruiting visits are permitted.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/19149025/why-stakes-high-ncaa-hq-week
