The Athletic: College football coaches fret over a signee limit problem without simple answers: ‘We’re creating a bad cycle’
Mack Brown huddled up with his recruiting coordinator this offseason, trying to do the math. But the math is hard, and not just for the head coach at North Carolina. Every FBS program is dealing with the same numbers crunch.
Roster management is the main topic on a lot of coaches’ minds this summer, the first offseason of what has been touted as a new era of college football free agency. The NCAA changed its rules in April, permitting all athletes to transfer once and play right away, but it hasn’t made it any easier for coaches to replace those departures… [MORE]
Inside the biggest recruiting camp of the summer: 4,000 players, 400 coaches and the spectacle of SMU’s Dallas Showcase
“Rule No. 1: Have fun!” SMU strength coach Kaz Kazadi yelled to the crowd.
“Rule No. 2: Don’t freak out!”
The field of 700-plus players and the parents waiting outside got a laugh at that one. It was hard not to freak out. SMU’s Armstrong Fieldhouse was jam-packed on Saturday morning. The line to get in stretched around nearly the entire building. Everyone assembled here because it was finally — finally — camp season. The NCAA shut down in-person recruiting on March 13, 2020, due to COVID-19, making evaluations and relationships difficult to gauge. The governing body decided to restore the normal recruiting calendar on June 1, kicking off four weeks of recruiting madness… [MORE]
Palm Beach Post: Early Signing Period, Transfer Portal, extra year of eligibility ramps up pressure for players to commit, sign
Remember a long time ago — okay, four-and-a-half years — when hundreds of high school football players announced their college choice on the first Wednesday in February?
It seemed as if at least one recruit at every school went through the process of selecting one of the hats on the table in front of him to reveal his choice.
Those ceremonies still exist, but they’re becoming more and more rare.
Between the Early Signing Period, which made December the new National Signing Day since it began in 2017, the NCAA transfer portal and the fallout from the NCAA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s increasingly important for high school student-athletes to make a decision earlier in the process.
Wait too long and risk being left out… [MORE]
Coaches, prospects settling in as recruiting blitz continues
As Florida is in the middle of its second official visit weekend, playing host to seven more official visitors, things are beginning to feel a little bit more normal for coach Dan Mullen and the rest of his Gators staff.
After nearly 15 months without in-person recruiting, the first week of things being opened back up was a whirlwind. The Gators hosted 13 official visitors on the first weekend they could, but the operation went off without a hitch and UF seemed to make some major progress with many recruits.
As the month continues, Florida will host a number of different camps, giving the coaches the opportunity to scout younger player and for those younger players to get used to being on college campuses… [MORE]
Inside the return of college football recruiting: strategies and ‘a big mad rush’ for in-person visits
Hank Tierney had to call back later.
Ponchatoula High School’s head football coach was busy. Busy taking phone calls from his players. Busy setting up their visits to college football camps. Busy calculating just how many players he’d have missing during his three-times-per-week summer workouts, now that the NCAA’s recruiting “dead period” is finally over.
OK, that kid was at LSU on Tuesday. … One’s at Harvard today. … A few more will be at UL on Friday. … Notre Dame on Sunday. …
Calendars collide. Numbers spin. But Tierney embraces the madness because he knows how essential this week is, this month is. It’s the first time college coaches can visit with recruits in-person since March 13, 2020, when the NCAA restricted visits to phone and video calls at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic… [READ MORE]
After the Dead Period: 7 Days of LSU Recruiting
With officials monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic, the NCAA’s dead period stretched from mid-March in 2020 to May 31, 2021.
College coaches were not allowed to meet face-to-face with recruits during the year-plus long stretch, which meant no on-campus visits, no summer camps, no evaluation periods and so forth. In short, recruiting was done over text messages, phone calls and Zooms.
On Tuesday, June 1, that ended, with the NCAA officially welcoming in an open contact period that allowed recruits to visits campuses and meet with coaches.
For LSU, that meant hosting more than 20 prospects across the first two days of the month of June, which quickly poured into a weekend where the staff hosted six official visitors while also putting on the team’s annual OL/DL and Skills Camps, which ran from Saturday to Sunday… [READ MORE]
Hugh Freeze discusses maintaining Zoom for recruiting in post-COVID-19 era
Freeze joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” and discussed how maintaining Zoom in recruiting can be beneficial for programs moving forward in the post-COVID-19 era.
“I would be fine with continuing to recruit like that all the time with the exception of, I think we need to be able to go out in the evaluation period in the fall, and obviously the contact period before signing day in December and January,” Freeze said. “I honestly think it would benefit college football, families and coaches if we just did away with the spring evaluations and did that by Zoom because the kids are coming to your campus anyway. When we go to those high schools in the spring, everyone is pulling people out of class, it is a non-contact period anyway — I am probably on the minority on that. I would be fine with us just resuming the Zoom world, all of that time with the exception, I do think we need to go out and evaluate in the fall time where there be a practice or a game, combined with the contact we have in December in January… [READ MORE]
Michigan football coaches hit the ground running during ‘crazy’ month of recruiting
DETROIT — The COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented 14 ½-month recruiting dead period that altered the landscape of the recruiting experience for both coaches and players.
As the dead period was lifted June 1, college coaches are now navigating another new wrinkle on the recruiting calendar.
With the NCAA transitioning to a quiet period from June 1 through July 31 — interrupted by a dead period from June 28 to July 24 – coaches can interact and evaluate prospects on a university campus, an essential part of the recruiting process that was halted in March 2020 because of the pandemic… [READ MORE]
Numerous top recruits visiting Georgia football program in June
Recruiting visits are back for college football! For the first time since March 2020, the NCAA’s recruiting dead period is lifted.
The Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart hold the top-ranked recruiting class for the class of 2022 and 2023. There is still a long way to go, but the Dawgs have a promising amount of talent lined up to visit in June.
College football recruiting is feeling more normal. It will be a crazy month of June. Numerous prospects have committed to schools without visiting the schools in person. June is expected to be one of the busiest college football recruiting months ever… [READ MORE]
Penn State Plans Major Return to In-Person Recruiting
Penn State coach James Franklin will sleep again in July. Until then, Franklin will become a host once more, entertaining commits, hosting camps and shouting “Banzai” during a new recruiting calendar that could reshape the future of Penn State football.
“It’s going to be a situation where, for those summer weeks, you’re going to be packing a bunch of stuff in there,” Franklin said.
The 15-month NCAA recruiting dead period ends June 1, meaning prospective athletes finally will be allowed to make official visits to campuses across the country. For Penn State, this is a big deal… [READ MORE]
College football coaches are getting creative with the recruiting dead period finally ending June 1
Eli Drinkwitz had more than a plan for a new house when he moved from Appalachian State to Missouri 18 months ago. First, the Tigers’ new coach had to call compliance.
Before picking the location of his home in Columbia, Missouri, Drinkwitz inquired about a little-known NCAA rule that allows a recruiting advantage for coaches who live within a mile of campus. Recruits coming on an unofficial visit can actually stop by a coach’s house if it’s close enough to the university.
Those unofficial visits are fairly bare. They’re paid for by the family of the prospect and don’t include all the recruiting meals and perks. Except if a coach essentially has a home within walking distance… [READ MORE]
USA Today High School Sports: NCAA recruiting dead period ends after 15 months
High school recruits have been mostly stuck at home for the last 15 months. Other than the ability to take a self-guided tour of a campus — which is a far cry from the experience of a typical visit — prospects across the nation were left with no choice but to commit to schools without having ever visited beforehand.
Now, that is all history… [READ MORE]
NCAA: Division I to return to recruiting activities June 1
All Division I sports will return to their regular recruiting calendars beginning June 1. The Division I Council approved the return to recruiting activities during its videoconference this week.
Council members also acknowledged that schools in different areas of the country could be limited based on campus, local and state requirements… [READ MORE]
ESPN: NCAA Division I sports regular recruiting calendars to resume June 1
The DI Council approved all Division I sports to return to their regular recruiting calendars beginning on June 1, the NCAA announced on Thursday.
The Council acknowledged schools in different areas of the country could be limited based on regulations set by campus, city and state requirements, but the schools are no longer restricted by the created dead period that had been enacted since March 13, 2020… [READ MORE]
