Recruiting Rules

Official rule

• Contact period: authorized athletics staff may make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations.
• Evaluation period: staff may watch you play and assess your academics off campus, but may not make in-person, off-campus recruiting contact with you.
• Quiet period: in-person contact only on the college's campus. No in-person, off-campus contacts or evaluations.
• Dead period: no in-person recruiting contact or evaluations, on or off campus, and no official or unofficial visits to the campus.

In the NCAA's guide table, calls, texts, emails and social media messages are allowed in every period except a recruiting shutdown. A dead period is about in-person contact, not about messages. Sources: 2026-27 FBS calendar definitions and the NCAA Guide.

Official rule

General rule: an NCAA Division I school may not provide recruiting materials (including general correspondence related to athletics) or send electronic correspondence to a prospect or the prospect's family until June 15 at the conclusion of the prospect's sophomore year in high school. Source: NCAA Division I Bylaw 13.4.1, Legislative Services Database. Checked October 18, 2026.

Official rule

FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision), fall 2026:

• Aug. 1 to Aug. 31: dead period. (A quiet period applies instead from 48 hours before a home contest in August or on Sept. 1 or 2 through 48 hours after it ends.)
• Sept. 1 to Nov. 29: evaluation period. Each school gets 33 evaluation days (42 for U.S. service academies).
• Nov. 30 to Dec. 31: dead period.

FCS (Football Championship Subdivision), fall 2026:

• Aug. 1 to Aug. 31: dead period (same home-contest quiet-period exception).
• Sept. 1 to Nov. 29: evaluation period (33 evaluation days; 42 for service academies).
• Nov. 30 to Dec. 3: dead period.
• Dec. 4 to Dec. 18: contact period.
• Dec. 18 to Dec. 20: quiet period. (Dec. 18 appears in both the contact and quiet ranges on the NCAA's calendar. Treat the more restrictive quiet period as the safe reading and ask the school.)
• Dec. 21 to Dec. 31: dead period.

Sources: official NCAA calendars, updated July 30, 2026: FBS and FCS. These editions are labeled "Fall 2026-27," so we list fall dates only.

Official rule

2026-27 Division I football early signing period: Dec. 2 to Dec. 4, 2026. The regular signing period for Division I and II football opens Feb. 3, 2027; the final date is set by each school's policy for awarding scholarships. Midyear two-year college transfers can sign starting Dec. 2, 2026. Source: 2026-27 NCAA Signing Dates.

When you sign a Division I or II athletics aid agreement: the school agrees to provide the scholarship if you're admitted, remain eligible and meet the agreement's terms; other NCAA coaches must stop contacting you and your support system; and you can't sign with more than one school at a time. Source: NCAA Guide.

Official rule

• Recruiting materials (athletically related) may be sent at any time.
• Communication (email, text, DM, phone) may happen at any time with a prospect or the prospect's family.
• After June 15 immediately preceding junior year: no limits on in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts, and official visits may begin.
• Official visits may happen at any time outside a dead period or signing-date dead period.
• At your game or practice: coaches can't make contact at your competition site until your competition is over for the day and you've been released by the proper authority. Contact is allowed on the school's own campus before its home competition.

Source: Division II Coaches Off-Campus Recruiting Guide 2026-27.

Official rule

2026-27 Division II football calendar dates (one calendar for all sports):

• Nov. 30 (7 a.m.) to Dec. 2 (7 a.m.): signing-date dead period (applies to two-year college prospects who plan to enroll midyear).
• Dec. 22, 2026 to Jan. 1, 2027: dead period.
• Feb. 1 (7 a.m.) to Feb. 3 (7 a.m.), 2027: signing-date dead period.
• Feb. 15 to 17, 2027: dead period.
• May 29 to 31, 2027: dead period.

Source: 2026-27 Division II calendar, updated July 30, 2026.

Official rule

Division III does not use recruiting calendars or reminders. D3 schools do not offer athletics scholarships. Many D3 athletes do receive merit-based or need-based aid, and D3 schools set their own admissions and academic standards. After you're accepted, D3 schools may use a nonbinding Celebratory Signing Form. Sources: NCAA Guide; NCAA Division III eligibility page.

Official rule

• The NAIA lists "no recruiting calendar restrictions of any kind" for high school students, with direct communication allowed between you and NAIA coaches.
• Tryouts: a maximum of two days of tryouts across your entire athletic career.
• Letters of intent: the NAIA has no association-wide letter-of-intent program. You may sign with an individual NAIA school, but you aren't obligated to attend. Some conferences require schools to honor letters of intent signed with other schools in the conference, so check.
• Admission: you must be admitted under standards equal to or higher than those applied to the general student body.
• Eligibility: you must register with the NAIA Eligibility Center at PlayNAIA.org and receive an "eligible" decision before you first compete. Registering with the NCAA is separate. The NAIA's May 2026 guide lists the one-time fee for U.S./Canadian high school students as $110, waivable for students with demonstrated need.

Sources: NAIA High School Students, NAIA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, NAIA Basics of Recruiting.

Official rule

NCAA Division I: register for an Academic and Athletics Certification account; complete 16 core courses (4 English, 3 math at Algebra I level or higher, 2 science, 1 more English/math/science, 2 social science, and 4 more core courses); complete 10 of the 16 before the start of the seventh semester (7 of those 10 in English, math or science); earn at least a 2.3 core-course GPA; have your counselor submit your final transcript with proof of graduation; receive certification.

NCAA Division II: same registration; 16 core courses (3 English, 2 math, 2 science, 3 more English/math/science, 2 social science, and 4 more core courses); at least a 2.2 core-course GPA; final transcript and proof of graduation; certification.

NCAA test scores: in January 2023 Divisions I and II adopted legislation to remove standardized test scores from initial-eligibility requirements. Individual schools may still ask for scores for admission or scholarships, so ask each school.

NCAA Division III: schools set their own academic standards. All incoming D3 athletes should register with the Eligibility Center to get an NCAA ID.

NAIA: no core courses. Graduate from an accredited high school and meet a 2.3+ GPA, or meet two of three: ACT 18 or SAT 970, 2.0 overall GPA, top half of your class. Other rules apply for GED, home-school and international students.

Sources: NCAA D1, NCAA D2, NCAA Guide, NAIA Guide.

Official rule

An official visit is a campus visit paid for by the college hosting you. Before a Division I or II official visit you must register with the Eligibility Center, be on the school's institutional request list, and send the school a copy of your high school transcript. Each school may extend only one official visit to you (a second may be allowed in D1 and D2 after a head coaching change). An unofficial visit is any campus visit paid for by you or your family. You can take an unlimited number, but in Divisions I and II each must happen after the first permissible date for your sport. Source: NCAA Guide. Meals and entertainment limits differ by division; see the chart on that page.

Official rule

Among the circumstances the NCAA Eligibility Center reviews in athletics certification is entering a written agreement with an agent, along with signing with or tryout-ing for a professional team and receiving payment or preferential treatment for playing. Division I football programs may only subscribe to recruiting and scouting services approved by the NCAA Enforcement Certification and Approvals Group (ECAG). Sources: NCAA Guide; NCAA Recruiting and Scouting Service page.