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What Is the NCAA Quiet Period?

IMG baseball coaching

The NCAA defines the quiet period as a time when “a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents off the college campus and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high school.” To break it down, the NCAA Quiet Period is a time you can talk to college coaches in-person on their college campus. However, the coach is not allowed to watch athletes compete in-person, visit their school, talk to them at their home—or talk to them anywhere outside of the college campus.

The goal of this period is to give elite recruits a break from getting visited by college coaches at their games and at their home. For average recruits, this time will feel like a contact period. You can still text, call, email or direct message coaches during this time—and you should be reaching out to stay proactive in your recruiting.

The quiet period is a specific recruiting period in the NCAA calendar for Division I and Division II sports to regulate when and how coaches can contact athletes throughout the year. While it’s up to the coaches to comply with the NCAA calendar, it’s important for athletes to know the different recruiting periods on the calendar so they develop realistic expectations of the type of recruiting that will take place throughout the year.

Insider Tip: The NCAA Quiet Period only applies to Division I and Division II schools. Division III and NAIA schools (see the NAIA recruiting rules) allow coaches to watch a recruit in person at any point throughout the year.

For a quick recap on the topic, check out this video of former college coach Danny Koenig discussing what a quiet period is.

Recruiting tips for the NCAA Quiet Period

Even though coaches can’t visit prospects during the quiet period, recruiting is still happening. Many recruits choose to take unofficial visits during this time. Since the coach can’t come to them, they go to the coach. Unofficial visits give recruits the chance to tour a college campus, meet with the coach, see the athletic facilities and experience the campus culture. Because coaches are still able to text, call and email recruits during this time, it’s easy to set up a visit.

If you’re an elite recruit who’s feeling a little run down after a few months of coach visits, you can take this time to catch your breath and figure out which schools you’re most interested in. Create a list of your top schools with pros and cons for each one. If you have any lingering questions about a program, you can still send those questions to the coach during the quiet period.

When is the NCAA Quiet Period?

Division I Football FBS

Division I Football FCS

Division I Baseball

Division I Men’s Basketball

Division I Women’s Basketball

Division I Men’s Golf

Division I Men’s Lacrosse

Division I Women’s Lacrosse

Division I Women’s Volleyball

Division I Softball

Division I Women’s Ice Hockey

Division I Men’s Soccer

Division II Football

Division II Men’s and Women’s Basketball