National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Apr 1, 2010 8:24:31 AM

The Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet is polling athletics directors and coaches organizations in football and men's and women's basketball about legislative concepts that would address the proliferation of noncoaching personnel with sport-specific responsibilities.

The increasing size of noncoaching personnel dedicated to those high-profile sports has given rise to competitive-equity concerns and to complaints of there being "more suits on the bench than uniforms."

Some schools can't afford to hire as many people to help with duties such as arranging travel or keeping statistics and must assign those responsibilities to assistant coaches. At a recent meeting of the Division I Board of Directors, Clemson President Jim Barker said the proliferation of personnel dedicated to a single sport is an issue he'd like to see addressed sooner than later.

The cabinet hopes to have results of its survey back this spring and plans to introduce legislation into the 2010-11 cycle that will make the number of noncoaching personnel on the sidelines more consistent. The cabinet identified personnel limits as one of its key priorities in September 2009, and an initial survey earlier this year found that a resounding majority (81 percent) of coaches and administrators agreed that some type of limit should be placed on noncoaching personnel with sport-specific responsibilities, especially in football and men's and women's basketball.

The current survey includes several legislative concepts for men's basketball, women's basketball, championship subdivision football and bowl subdivision football. Among the concepts are to limit the number of noncoaching personnel with sport-specific responsibilities at either a modest or rigorous level, or eliminate the distinction of responsibilities between coaches and noncoaching personnel and then limit the personnel that can be involved in that sport (with individual duties left to an institution's discretion).

Different limits are outlined for basketball, championship subdivision football and bowl subdivision football. For purposes of the survey, individuals who may report to another unit within the athletics department, such as sports information directors, academic advisors, athletic trainers, equipment managers and marketing directors, are not considered to be noncoaching staff with sport-specific responsibilities. Additionally, managers and clerical staff who work with specific sports programs are not included as part of the proposed limits in the legislative concepts.

So far, some initial feedback from athletics directors has been positive – many agree that this issue needs to be addressed. If survey results indicate clear support for one position or another in each of the sports, the cabinet intends to sponsor legislation in June.

The survey is due at the NCAA national office on April 16. Cabinet members hope that athletics directors will consult with their coaches before responding. Organizations such as the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and the American Football Coaches Association also are expected to discuss the concepts with their members.

For more information, contact Charnele Kemper at ckemper@ncaa.org.