NCAA Close to Expanding 25-Man Football Recruiting Cap

The NCAA college football landscape will have a very different look this fall with the introduction of the new name, image, and likeness (NIL) policies as well the possibility of the expansion of the 25-man class limit on rosters.

According to reports from Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee is close to finalizing a one-year temporary waiver allowing schools to replace any player who transfers out of the program with the addition of a new signee.

There will reportedly be a cap on the policy that will be higher than the current 25-player class, but a number has not been settled on, Dellenger reported.

CBSSports.com had other options the oversight committee is considering. Below is an excerpt from that report from CBS Sports.

Expanding the class limit is just one of multiple proposals on the table. Others include expanding the total number of signees and limiting high school signees to 25 while allowing for an additional number of scholarships to be granted to transfer players.

Roster management has always been a massive issue for college football coaches, and that has become even tougher over the last decade due to an increased number of transfers. It’ll be even more difficult moving forward due to the one-time transfer rule, name, image, and likeness opportunities at other schools, and the free year of eligibility granted by the NCAA in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

» ALSO SEE: A-10 Conferences Teams with NIL Support Software

“We want to maintain the ability to recruit high school players,” said American Football Coaches Association executive director Todd Berry. “If we don’t have any corrective legislation, people aren’t going to do that. We’re trying to maintain high school recruitment and make sure universities hard hit by losses to the transfer portal are OK.”

Moving forward with the proposal would be another sign that the NCAA is doing its best to keep some structure in this rapidly evolving time in college athletics. Players in fall and winter sports must enter the transfer portal by May 1 in order to take advantage of the free one-time transfer rule. That deadline is July 1 for athletes in spring sports.

To read the full report from CBS Sports, click here.