The Division I Council on Tuesday approved a rule change adopted by the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision Oversight Committees to permit any staff member to provide technical and tactical instruction to student-athletes. The decision is not final until the meeting concludes Wednesday.
The change would be effective immediately. Moving forward, any staff member may provide technical and tactical instruction to student-athletes during practice and competition.
The proposal does not change the number of off-campus recruiters. FBS teams remain limited to up to 11 staff members and FCS teams remain limited to 13 staff members who may participate in off-campus recruiting activities. National service academies are permitted an additional four off-campus recruiters. Both subdivisions must include the head coach as an off-campus recruiter, and only staff members who regularly engage in on-campus coaching activities with student-athletes can be counted as off-campus recruiters.
FBS programs also remain able to have up to four graduate student coaches and no more than five strength and conditioning coaches. Limits for student assistant coaches will be the same as the number of permissible off-campus recruiters for a football program.
“NCAA members continue efforts to modernize support for student-athletes, and removing restrictions on skill instruction in football will provide those student-athletes with increased resources to achieve their greatest on-field potential,” said Josh Whitman, chair of the council and athletics director at Illinois. “At the same time, the council determined that maintaining limits on recruiting personnel will preserve competitive balance in recruiting while also localizing decision-making around how best to maximize support for student-athletes.”
Cannabis testing
The council voted to remove cannabinoids from the banned drug class for championships and postseason participation in football, effective immediately.
“The NCAA drug testing program is intended to focus on integrity of competition, and cannabis products do not provide a competitive advantage,” Whitman said. “The council’s focus is on policies centered on student-athlete health and well-being rather than punishment for cannabis use.”
Any penalties currently being served by student-athletes who previously tested positive for cannabinoids will be discontinued.
Official visits in basketball and baseball
The council approved a change by the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees and the Division I Student-Athlete Experience Committee that removes school restrictions on official visits, effective immediately.
Previously, men’s basketball programs were limited to 28 official visits during a two-year rolling period, though for the past two academic years a blanket waiver was issued to provide 35 visits per school. In women’s basketball, the previous limit was 24 official visits during a two-year rolling average with a blanket waiver in place the past years with a limit of 30 official visits. Baseball programs were limited to 25 official visits per year; however, they have also operated under a blanket waiver for the past four academic years allowing 40 official visits per year.
In April 2023, NCAA members voted to allow prospects to take unlimited official visits to NCAA schools but limited them to one official visit per school, unless there is a head coaching change after an official visit, in which case prospects are able to complete a second official visit to the same school.
As a result of recent changes to transfer rules, in addition to the change allowing unlimited visits for prospects, the Basketball Oversight and Student-Athlete Experience Committees agreed that programs should be able to provide as many official visits as they need to maintain rosters year-to-year and avoid roster depletion.
Basketball foreign tours
A rule change adopted by the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees and approved by the council will allow student-athletes to compete in more than one foreign tour with the same school. Basketball programs are still limited to one foreign tour every four years.
Additionally, the council approved a change adopted by the Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee that allows women’s basketball programs to compete against another Division I program in one game during a foreign tour. This will provide an opportunity for compelling matchups and a structured, guaranteed game during a tour, which can drive additional international interest in growing the game of women’s basketball.
FBS, FCS recruiting calendars
The council approved additional recruiting calendar changes recommended by the FBS and FCS Oversight Committees. Some of the recommendations were made to account for the decision by the Collegiate Commissioners Association, which has authority over the National Letter of Intent program, to move football’s early signing date to the first week of December.
In FBS football, changes include:
- Extending the July dead period. A 31-calendar day dead period beginning July 1 is intended to allow coaches to prepare for the upcoming season without focusing on recruiting.
- Adding a December quiet period, intended to allow teams to focus on the football postseason and allow on-campus recruiting activities.
- Extending the January contact period, intended to allow schools the opportunity to recruit high school juniors and four-year college transfers.
- Adding a quiet period the Sunday before the American Football Coaches Association Convention, to allow coaches to finish campus visits before the AFCA Convention dead period.
In FCS football, changes include:
- Allowing a 14-calendar day December contact period beginning the Friday after the early signing period, enabling FCS programs to conduct on- and off-campus recruiting activities before the regular signing period and before the NCAA Transfer Portal closes.
- Adding a three-day quiet period at the conclusion of the December contact period to allow FCS schools to continue to have on-campus recruiting activities at the same time as FBS schools.