Tag Archive for: NCAA Scholarship if coach was fired

It’s common this time of year for us to be asked “If my coach is fired or resigns, does that give me a ‘free’ opportunity to transfer?”

In fact, Vanderbilt University and University of Illinois are a few of the schools who have recently announced football coaching changes.

This prompts me to remind readers that while a coaching change CAN potentially impact an athlete’s scholarship, a coaching change does NOT change the transfer rules.

An athlete must still follow the same steps to transfer and their eligibility will depend upon the same rules and academic requirements regardless of whether their team has had a coaching change.

At the NCAA Division I level, however, a coaching change can potentially have an impact on an athlete’s scholarship if the new coaching staff doesn’t see that athlete as a good fit for the program.

If you have questions about the transfer rules or about your athletic scholarship and want to discuss your athlete’s specific situation, schedule a confidential Transfer Consult or a Scholarship Strategies Consult. You can also send an email to rick@informedathlete.com or call us at 913-766-1235.

So, your NCAA DI coach was fired or resigned – how does this affect your athletic scholarship?  There is a new Division I rule for an athletic scholarship after the departure of a head coach.

In that situation, it often happens that a new coach will cut players from the team or will tell them that “you can continue on the team, but don’t expect to get much playing time” in an effort to coerce them to transfer.

For a student-athlete who may want to stay at the same school on scholarship to finish their degree and graduate from that university, there is a new rule that allows them to stay on scholarship the following year(s) and that scholarship will not count against team limits.

HOWEVER, the downside to this new rule is that for the scholarship to NOT count against team limits, the athlete must give up participation in their sport.

If you are an NCAA Division I student-athlete whose coach has been fired or resigned, and you have not been informed about this new rule, contact us for a consultation to discuss scholarship strategies.