NCAA close to changing college football signing limit
College football may be entering a whole new era as officials move closer to expanding the 25-person signing limit, according to Sports Illustrated.
A proposal is being finalized to change the limit for the 2022 cycle until a permanent policy is created. The decision comes primarily so coaches can manage rosters after an influx of transfers. Some rosters are left with too many open spots and others don’t have enough. In the proposal, schools would gain additional signing spots for players who enter the transfer portal on their own, up to a limit.
In 2021, the Gators lost 10 players to the transfer portal and picked up seven. So, under the proposed rules and assuming the limit is seven or above, Florida could’ve signed a full class of high schoolers and still got their transfers.
Those transfer numbers only look to increase nationwide as programs become more crowded due to the COVID-19-inspired rule that gives each athlete an extra year of eligibility. The same players could also leave en masse in a single draft, so the change was somewhat necessary if disaster was to be avoided for some programs.
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The biggest knock against increasing the signing limit is that coaches can exploit it by forcing players out and creating additional spots for more talented players. The proposal attempts to solve that issue by making it so that students must enter the portal on their own.
The hope is that the change will bring the focus of recruiting back to high schoolers trying to make it to the next level and allow schools to reach the 85-man scholarship mark.
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