Report: NCAA committee discussing eliminating coaching staff caps, closed periods in transfer portal

Huge changes could be coming to the NCAA if the reports are true. According to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, an NCAA committee — The Transformation Committee — is discussing eliminating coaching staff caps, and adding closed periods to the transfer portal.

“Imagine a college sports world where schools are able to offer each baseball player a full scholarship. Or if a football team’s on-field coaching staff could exceed 25 people,” wrote Dellenger. “What if the transfer portal was open to players for just three months out of the year? And what if the recruiting calendar featured no evaluation or quiet periods? There is a distinct possibility these ideas could become more than just concepts.”

“The Transformation Committee, a group of high-ranking college leaders charged with overhauling and modernizing NCAA governance, is considering revolutionary changes some administrators describe as ‘radical.’ In a briefing with athletic administrators this week in Dallas, committee leaders revealed ideas to deregulate longtime NCAA bylaws and decentralize such decisions to the conferences.”

Continuing, Dellenger points out that the Transformation Committee is led by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Ohio athletic director Julie Cromer. According to Sports Illustrated, they have been tasked by Emmert and an executive group of school presidents to rewrite D-I policies by August. However, Dellenger writes that many now believe the process will stretch into the fall.

The committee shared the concepts in an effort to prepare administrators for the change, but it’s even more transformative than expected, according to Dellenger. Additionally, the announcement that NCAA president Mark Emmert plans to resign next June was apparently the first step in revolutionizing the NCAA.

Moreover, Dellenger laid out the five concepts from the Transformation Committee, which he states are straight from several athletic administrators and college sports insiders under the condition of being anonymous.

“They include (1) eliminating scholarship caps on sports that offer only partial scholarships; (2) abolishing the limitation on the number of coaches per team; (3) expanding direct payments from schools to athletes; (4) reconfiguring the recruiting calendar; and (5) implementing closed periods in the NCAA transfer portal,” wrote Dellenger. “At least the first three items will be left in the decision-making hands of individual conferences, if the concepts are approved.”

The advent of the transfer portal and NIL opportunities has changed the landscape of college sports, but it doesn’t look like college sports are done transforming.

“Change is coming,” said another athletic director who was on hand for the committee’s presentation, per Dellenger. “We better get prepared. We shouldn’t be shocked if all this does happen.”

Even with all the changes outlined, Mit Winter — an Attorney at Kennyhertz Perry LLC and an NIL Attorney — doesn’t believe it addresses the biggest issue.

“While there are some good ideas detailed here, they still don’t address the real issue with big time college sports,” wrote Winter. “They are professional sports without the safeguards provided by collective bargaining and athlete representation.”

As you can see, the NCAA has many issues to tackle over the next couple months. Change is on the horizon, and there’s no running from it.