The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- July 19, 1999

Football issues panel approves revised calendar

Committee OKs AFCA proposal to streamline recruiting and reduce costs

The Division I Football Issues Committee approved a revised football recruiting calendar during its June 24-25 meeting in Chicago.

The revised calendar, developed in cooperation with the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), will be forwarded to the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet for consideration during its September meeting.

The new calendar is the result of a process that began in February at the request of the committee and has involved input from head coaches and assistant coaches to develop an alternative that streamlines the calendar, provides flexibility and reduces costs.

Some of the key elements of the calendar include an overall reduction of four evaluations and contact days and a reduction of contact days from seven to six. The reduction of evaluation and contact days would result in significant savings to an institution in transportation, trip expenses and time away from the campus.

The proposal also allows for an institution to select any four weeks during the spring evaluation, which provides the opportunity for it to develop a plan that best fits its own needs. Coaches believe that having more flexibility to spend time with the players on campus before the end of the school year is extremely important. Further, some high schools are now starting spring practices as early as the middle of April and some institutions may prefer to start their own spring practices due to weather conditions.

The opportunity to have two evaluations during the spring period would enable an authorized recruiter to evaluate a prospect's athletics skills, but more importantly ensure that he is academically qualified and has the character to compete at the major college level. It is the opinion of the committee and the AFCA that it is imperative to conduct in-person visits to review a prospect's academic record and character.

Another key element of the proposed calendar is an expansion of the dead period during the holiday season, which would allow both student-athletes and coaches an uninterrupted holiday season.

The proposal also provides for a more streamlined calendar in which the evaluation and contact periods would be full weeks as opposed to portions of weeks.

Legislation

In legislative actions, the committee voted to resubmit Proposal No. 98-91 regarding skill-related instruction. During its April 1999 meeting, the Division I Management Council approved for Division I-A a proposal to permit student-athletes to participate in individual skill-related instruction outside of the institution's declared playing season during the academic year, provided (a) the student-athlete requests such instruction, (b) such instruction does not involve the use of any pads or helmets and (c) not more than four student-athletes are involved in skill-related instruction with their coaches at any one time in any facility.

However, the Division I Board of Directors declined to support the proposal during its April 1999 meeting. The Football Issues Committee decided to resubmit the proposal and emphasize that the skill-related instruction would be part of the eight hours of out-of-season sessions.

The committee also voted to not resubmit a proposal regarding the six-win requirement for postseason play. The proposal requires a Division I-A institution to declare before the start of a season the Division I-AA opponent it would count toward meeting the six-win requirement for Division I-A postseason competition. The Championships/Competition Cabinet previously had declined to support the proposal.

The committee tabled a proposal to permit coaches to contact prospects by telephone in April due to the newly proposed football recruiting calendar.

Other highlights

Division I Football Issues Committee
June 24-25/Chicago