New guidelines are giving college coaches more leeway in recruiting, with Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin already taking advantage of one new rule.
As the NCAA attempts to modernize Division I rules, coaches are now allowed to mention high school teams publicly or geotag the schools while recruiting off campus. Kiffin tweeted Friday morning that he would attend an Isidore Newman football game later in the day to watch the No. 1 quarterback in the 2023 class, Arch Manning.
Feels like a great night to go watch 2 great high school programs @EHSBRAthletics vs @NewmanAthletes #GoKnights #GoGreenies
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) November 19, 2021
In the past, college coaches were not permitted to endorse any noninstitutional athletic events or a prospect's team, coach or athletic facility.
Another significant rule change will allow programs to create personalized videos for recruiting purposes. Until now, athletic creative departments were restricted from personalizing any video or audio sent to recruits and had to follow production specifications outlined by the NCAA.
That will undoubtedly create more work for creative teams, as coaches are always looking for advantages in recruiting. Having the ability to create a personalized video for a prospect is an opportunity college coaches will look to take advantage of as much as possible.
Some of the other new adoptions will allow coaches to send group texts and email messages to multiple prospects at once. Before this rule change, the NCAA considered it a violation of the restriction on publicity before a commitment because it provides information about a prospect to other prospects.
Athletic programs also will be allowed to advertise their events in their local community, and media members can now be present during a recruiting contact after a prospect has signed a national letter of intent or the school's written offer of admission or financial aid.