NCAA repeals official visit limit

The changes to college athletics over the last few years have been numerous and college football recruiting continues to adjust.

The NCAA announced on Friday that schools now have an unlimited official visits for football. Schools were limited to 70 official visits but with the ever changing rosters for schools because of the transfer portal, the limit has been lifted.

Some schools can see about half or more of their rosters change from year to year which led to the increase of official visits.

The NCAA announced an increase from 56 official visits to 70 on June 30, 2023, to help schools with roster turnover.

The changing of the early signing period from the third Wednesday of December to Dec. 4-6 to help coaches of schools playing in conference championships, bowl games and playoffs was announced in the spring.

This allows coaches to focus on preparation instead of being concerned with a signing class and transfer portal. The three-day early signing period began in 2017.

Big Sky Commissioner Tom Wistrcill, who chairs the National Letter of Intent subcommittee of the Collegiate Commissioners Association, explained the reasoning for moving up the early signing period.

"The biggest reason we're doing this is to clear up the football recruiting calendar so the signing period and the transfer portal don't overlap," Wistrcill told The Athletic in February. "The feedback we've received from all coaches is that December is a mess. Especially with the expansion of the (College Football Playoff) coming next year, that just creates more chaos in December. This should help."

The transfer portal will open Dec. 9 after conference championship games. The final day to enter the portal will be Dec. 28. Schools can host high school prospects and transfers for official visits from Dec. 9 to Dec. 22.

The final visit window for midterm transfers will be Jan. 1-5.

The traditional National Signing Day period in February will be on Feb. 5 and will take on a greater role for schools with a coaching changes.

The past early signing period falling on the third Wednesday of December was a challenge for staffs trying to put together signing class but the Dec. 4-6 window will make it much tougher and placing more importance on the February signing day in trying to add high school prospects to rosters.

CBS Sports Network national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said newly hired college coaches will focus on transfers because of the early signing period being moved up.

"I think with coaching changes, schools will really hit the transfer portal hard," Lemming said. "The new coach knows he has to do that. So that's the one benefit with so many kids transferring now. If you do a good job, you could wind up like Ole Miss or Colorado and a have good year."

Lemming credits former Michigan State Coach Mel Tucker and his 2021 transfer class for propelling the Spartans to a 11-2 record that season.

"Michigan State was really the first school to embrace the transfer portal with Mel Tucker before he got fired," Lemming said. "They brought in a ton of transfers the very first year and they had a great year."

. . .

Evan Noel, a kicker who committed to the University of Arkansas as a sophomore, flipped his commitment to Florida on Monday.

Noel, 6-2 and 155 pounds, of Bay St. Louis (Miss.) Saint Stanislaus Catholic chose the Razorbacks over an offer from Ole Miss and interest from Georgia at the time of his first commitment. He added an offer from Florida on Aug. 1.

Noel set a Mississippi high school record with a 61-yard field goal in September.

He had 63 kickoffs with 49 touchbacks and had 38 punts for a 38.5-yard average as a junior. He made 8 of 11 field goals with a long of 49 yards that year.

Arkansas now has 22 commitments for the 2025 class.

Email Richard Davenport at [email protected]