NCAA Football Recruiting Calendars 2024-2025 [Simplified]

Last updated on July 3, 2024.

The information herein is a simplified presentation of important dates and terms encountered during the college football recruiting process. The official class of 2024/2025 NCAA football calendars can be viewed by clicking on the PDF links below:

OTHER IMPORTANT LINKS:

2024 NCAA FBS Shake-Up: Unveiling the Game-Changing Conference Realignment and Its Impact on College Football
2023-2024 NCAA FBS Head Coaching Changes
Contact College Football Coaches: Contact info for every college team in America: mailing address | phone | fax| email

Class of 2025 NCAA FBS Recruiting Calendar Dates (Simplified)

For more detailed explanations of terms used in this article, see the NCAA FOOTBALL RECRUITING DEFINITIONS section below.

August 1, 2024, through August 31, 2024: This is a Dead Period except for forty-eight hours before a home contest (on the institution’s campus or in a facility normally used for its home games) that occurs in August or on September 1 or 2 through 48 hours after the conclusion of the contest:

September 1 through December 1, 2024, is a Quiet Period except for the Evaluation Period noted below:

The NCAA allows colleges 33 evaluation days (42 for U.S. service academies) during the fall evaluation period. During this period, college staff members may conduct off-campus activities to assess a student athlete’s academic and playing ability. However, no in-person off-campus recruiting contacts with the student-athlete are allowed during this period.

December 2-8, 2024: This is a Dead Period

December 9-22, 2024: This is a Quiet Period.

December 23, 2024, through January 5, 2025: This is a Dead Period except for the following dates:

Note: December 4-6, 2024 is Early Football Signing Day

January 1-5, 2025: This is a Quiet Period for two- and four-year college transfer student-athletes who intend to enroll midyear.

January 6 through February 1, 2025 This is a Contact Period.

January 12, 2025: This is a Quiet Period.

January 13-15, 2025: This is a Dead Period.

February 2, 2025: This is a Quiet Period.

Note: February 5, 2025, is National Letter of Intent Day for NCAA Football

Recruiting Heats Up for the Class of 2026 High School Football Recruits

February 3 through March 2, 2025, This is a Dead Period except for National Service Academies, where February 7 through March 2, 2025, is a Quiet Period.

April 15 through May 24, 2025: This is a Contact Period:

Colleges are allowed one hundred forty (180 for U.S. service academies) recruiting-person days during the spring contact period.

May 25-28, 2025: This is a Dead Period.

May 29 through June 22, 2025: This is a Quiet Period.

June 23 through July 31, 2025: This is a Dead Period.

NCAA FOOTBALL RECRUITING DEFINITIONS

Contact Period — It’s permissible for authorized athletic department staff members to make in-person and off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations. College coaches are allowed to visit recruits off campus (at their high school or home). Coaches can make only one visit per week to individual recruits and are permitted to make one phone call per week to a recruit during this period.

Quiet Period—Recruits can visit with college coaches but only at those campuses. Also, during the months of September, October, or November, coaches are permitted to make one in-person off-campus visit to a recruit (at their high schools or at an athletic event) (colleges are allowed a total of 42 days of evaluation time during this period).

Dead Period — Coaches are not permitted to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off-campus or permit official or unofficial visits by recruits, or make phone calls to recruits.

Evaluation Period — It’s permissible for authorized athletics department staff to be involved in off-campus activities to assess academic qualifications and playing abilities. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts with a prospect are permitted during these evaluations: the college coaches are only allowed to attend athletic events and/or the prospect’s school and talk to the high school coaches and school administrators, but they are not allowed to speak to the recruit during one of these visits except to say “hello.” Colleges are allowed a total of approximately 168 days each year to conduct evaluations for all of their prospective recruits.

Early Signing Period — A short period of time, in mid-December, when the NCAA allows senior high school student-athletes to sign their Letter of Intent earlier than the beginning of the National Letter of Intent Signing Day in February.

Answers to FAQ

When Can a College Football Coach Start Calling Recruits and How Many Times?

PHONE CALLS

First Permitted Phone Call to a Recruit: FBS (D1 ) football coaches can make one phone call to a prospect from April 15 through May 31st of his junior year. Additional calls to the prospect and/or to his parent/guardian or relatives may not be made until September 1st of his senior year.

Beginning September 1 of a prospect’s senior year, college coaches can begin calling a recruit, but they are forbidden to call a single recruit more than once per week. Coaches can make no calls to recruits during dead periods.

WHEN CAN A COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACH START SENDING LETTERS AND EMAILS?

Correspondence

Colleges can send prospects’ non-athletic program information, such as college summer camp brochures, newsletters, recruiting questionnaires, and educational information about their schools at any time. However, college coaches cannot begin sending personal correspondence to a recruit until September 1st of his junior year.

WHEN CAN A PROSPECT OR PARENT/GUARDIAN CONTACT COLLEGE COACHES?

Recruiting prospects and/or their parent/guardian are allowed to make phone calls or send correspondence to college coaches at any time.

WHEN IS THE FIRST TIME A NCAA FOOTBALL PROGRAM CAN MAKE AN OFFICIAL SCHOLARSHIP OFFER TO A PROSPECT?

NCAA schools cannot make an official offer to a prospect until June 15—after his sophomore year—or on (or anytime after) September 1 of his junior year.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FOOTBALL RECRUITING PROCESS, VIEW THE LINKS BELOW:

How to Manage the College Football Recruiting Process

Do I Need to Make a Highlight Video?

Odds of Playing College Football