Get Ready Junior Recruiting is About to Heat Up as Soon as Midnight Feb. 1
STILLWATER – Starting at midnight on Monday, Feb. 1, 2021 NCAA Division I football coaches and recruiting staff can begin contacting juniors by phone. Normally, the date for that to begin in Sept. 1, but with in-person recruiting still banned by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Division I Committee for Legislative Relief stepped in with some measures to help stimulate and get the recruiting process started.
That means that head coach Mike Gundy, all of the Cowboys football assistants, recruiting coordinator Todd Bradford and the graduate assistant, quality control, and recruiting analysts can all help as well.
This should stimulate some movement in the 2023 class. I wouldn’t guarantee commitments coming anytime soon, but the process of pairing down schools will jump in my estimation.
The NCAA passed this relief on Friday, Jan. 21.
NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief Blanket Waiver Football (FBS/FCS) Telephone Calls During COVID-19 Recruiting Dead Period - Approved January 21, 2021
At the recommendation of the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee, the NCAA staff approved a blanket waiver to permit football coaches, including volunteer coaches, and full-time institutional staff members at NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) institutions to initiate telephone calls at their discretion to an individual (or the individual's family members) beginning February 1 of the individual's junior year of high school through the conclusion of the COVID-19 recruiting dead period.
In granting the request, the academic and membership affairs staff noted:
This is a one-time waiver request, applicable during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period; and
The unique and extenuating circumstances associated with the COVID-19 pandemic including the prohibition on official and unofficial visits during the COVID-19 temporary recruiting dead period.
The NCAA committe passed some other relief as well. Graduate Assistant coaches had their clocks stopped just like players from this past season. Graduate assistant coaches in good academic standing can stay in a program for a fourth season for this coming season only.
They also passed several other measures and you can find of them here at NCAA.org.