Billy Napier said he wanted to build an army of a coaching staff when he got to Gainesville, and the NCAA’s recent rule changes prove just how forward-thinking the man in charge is.
On Tuesday, the Division I Council approved a rule change permitting any staff member to provide technical and tactical instruction to student-athletes. The change is effective immediately upon the conclusion of Wednesday’s meeting period and does not affect the number of off-campus recruiters a team can field.
The rule opens up the door for assistants and quality control analysts to provide on-field instruction, which was previously forbidden despite being an impossible stipulation to monitor.
“NCAA members continue efforts to modernize support for student-athletes, and removing restrictions on skill instruction in football will provide those student-athletes with increased resources to achieve their greatest on-field potential,” chair of the council and athletics director at Illinois Josh Whitman said. “At the same time, the council determined that maintaining limits on recruiting personnel will preserve competitive balance in recruiting while also localizing decision-making around how best to maximize support for student-athletes.”
Napier and the athletic department foresaw this rule change, which is why Florida has nearly 75 names on its staff directory page. All of those names won’t get clearance to do some on-field coaching, but the guys who watch all of the film and take notes for the players can now talk directly to them rather than “encouraging” them from the sidelines.
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