NCAA drops football limit on bringing in players

Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Staff WriterOct 4, 2023, 02:39 PM ET
Close
- ESPN staff writer
- Joined ESPN in 2011
- Graduated from Central Michigan

The NCAA Division I Council approved a rule change Wednesday that will eliminate the initial counter limit for both the FBS and FCS.

Prior to the rule change, FBS programs were limited to 25 initial counters per year, which essentially meant that each program could bring in 25 total players each year. That total included high school prospects and transfers, and coaches were limited to 25 even if they were below the total scholarship limit of 85.

It became problematic to restrict the counter number given the large number of players transferring in and out of college football programs. Coaches, in some cases, were not able to fill their roster if they had already brought in 25 players for that year.

The initial counters had been temporarily suspended in 2021 as a result of the uncertainty around COVID-19 and the implementation of the one-time transfer exception, which let players transfer once without penalty.

That rule has now been permanently eliminated, and each program will be bound only by the total scholarship limit.