D-I Council approves recruiting calendar changes

Published

2 years ago

April 14, 2023

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4:49 PM ET

The Division I Council approved changes to the recruiting calendar Thursday, hoping to cater to more of a work-life balance for football coaches across all divisions.

The new rules were proposed by the oversight committee in early April and will now go into effect for FBS teams Aug. 1. Among the larger changes in guidelines include creating a contact period from April 15 to May 29 that will consist of 140 total recruiting days for a program’s coaching staff.

The current rule accounts for 168 days from April 15 to May 31, so the new rules reduces the number of allowable recruiting days by 28. It also changes the current evaluation period to a contact period, which would allow coaches to have in-person contact with recruits they are evaluating.

The council is also reducing the number of evaluation days in September, October and November by nine recruiting days from 42 to 33. The rule states that only authorized off-campus recruiters can visit a prospective student-athlete’s school and on only one calendar day during this period.

The council wanted to standardize the procedures for coaches making telephone calls, texts and sending recruiting materials to prospects. All activities will now be allowed on June 15 at the conclusion of a prospect’s sophomore year of high school. The council is, however, eliminating the restrictions on the number of phone calls a program can make once they are able to contact recruits.

The previous rule did not allow coaches to contact recruits over the phone until Sep. 1 of their junior year.

Coaches will legally be allowed to have off-campus in-person contact with recruits after Jan. 1 of the prospects’ junior year in high school. That essentially gives coaches the opportunity to go to a recruit’s high school and have contact with them nearly 11 months prior to when they are currently allowed. It limits the contact only to the recruit’s school, however, and does not include in-home visits.

The current rule states that coaches can’t have contact with junior prospects until July 1, following the completion of the recruit’s junior year of high school. But the way the calendar is made up, there is a dead period starting in July running through August, then an evaluation period, which does not allow contact with recruits, from September through Nov. 27.

As it stands now, coaches aren’t able to have contact with juniors until the contact period opens in December, even though the rule states they should be able to in July. That discrepancy was part of the clean-up with the new rule.

The new rules also state that schools will be allowed up to two off-campus contacts with an individual prospect during the January contact period of the recruit’s junior year and one off-campus contact during the spring contact period. That lowers the number of contacts from two to one in the spring duration.

In addition, the council is changing the dead period that starts before the February signing period. It will run from the first Monday of the signing day week to the first Sunday in March, after going from Jan. 30 to Feb. 28 this current year. All of these changes were implemented in hopes to modernize the recruiting calendar and adapt to the ongoing changes that coaches and recruits are experiencing in the current recruiting landscape.

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Surging Giants call up top prospect Eldridge

Published

1 hour ago

September 16, 2025

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Surging Giants call up top prospect Eldridge

Alden GonzalezSep 15, 2025, 02:21 PM ET
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The San Francisco Giants, suddenly back in the playoff race with two weeks remaining in the regular season, called up their top prospect Bryce Eldridge, the team announced Monday.

Eldridge, a 20-year-old first baseman who was No. 29 in the latest prospect rankings by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, will seemingly fill the role vacated by fellow left-handed hitter Dominic Smith, who went on the injured list because of a hamstring strain over the weekend.

The 16th pick out of high school in 2023, Eldridge surged in Double-A at the start of the season and was slashing .249/.322/.514 with 18 homers, 88 strikeouts and 28 walks for the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. His strikeout rate remained high of late, but his production improved over these past 17 games, during which he boasted a .294 batting average with 10 extra-base hits.

The Giants were using Rafael Devers at first base and designated hitter, with Smith and the right-handed-hitting Wilmer Flores essentially platooning at the other spot. Eldridge will be playoff eligible.

After acquiring Devers in the middle of June, the Giants went 13-22 heading into the trade deadline at the end of July, prompting the front office to deal veteran players. As of Aug. 22, the Giants were seven games below .500 and 7½ games out of the final National League wild-card spot, but they have since won 14 of 20 games and trail the slumping New York Mets by only 1½ games with 13 remaining.

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Cubs activate Soroka, who will be used as reliever

Published

1 hour ago

September 16, 2025

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Cubs activate Soroka, who will be used as reliever

Associated Press

Sep 15, 2025, 06:06 PM ET

PITTSBURGH — The Chicago Cubs activated right-hander Michael Soroka from the 15-day injured list before Monday night’s game against Pittsburgh.

Soroka will be used as a reliever. The Cubs acquired Soroka from Washington at the trade deadline and planned to use him as a starter.

However, Soroka pitched just two innings in his Cubs debut against Cincinnati on Aug. 4 and left because of a right shoulder strain. Soroka made a rehab appearance with Triple-A Iowa and allowed one run in 2⅓ innings.

Soroka is 3-8 this season with a 4.86 ERA in 17 starts.

Right-hander Ben Brown was optioned to Iowa in a corresponding move. He is 5-8 with a 5.92 ERA in 25 games, including 15 starts.

Cubs closer Daniel Palencia threw off the mound for the first time since going on the IL on Sept. 8 because of a right shoulder strain. He has converted 22 of 25 save opportunities and has a 3.00 ERA in 52 games.

Designated hitter Seiya Suzuki was not in the lineup Monday because of bronchitis.

The Cubs hold the first wild-card position in the National League.

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Source: Surging Giants calling up top prospect

Published

5 hours ago

September 15, 2025

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Alden GonzalezSep 15, 2025, 02:21 PM ET
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The San Francisco Giants, suddenly back in the playoff race with two weeks remaining in the regular season, are calling up top prospect Bryce Eldrige, a source confirmed to ESPN on Monday.

Eldridge, a 20-year-old first baseman who was No. 29 in the latest prospect rankings by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, will seemingly take on the role vacated by fellow left-handed hitter Dominic Smith, who went on the injured list with a hamstring strain over the weekend.

The 16th overall pick out of high school in 2023, Eldridge surged in Double-A at the start of the season and was slashing .249/.322/.514 with 18 homers, 88 strikeouts and 28 walks for the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. His strikeout rate remained high of late, but his production improved over these past 17 games, during which he boasted a .294 batting average with 10 extra-base hits.

The Giants had been using Rafael Devers at both first base and designated hitter, with Smith and the right-handed-hitting Wilmer Flores essentially platooning at the other spot. Eldridge will seemingly take on Smith’s role for the stretch run, while hoping to push the Giants toward an unlikely playoff spot.

After acquiring Devers in the middle of June, the Giants went 13-22 heading into the trade deadline at the end of July, prompting the front office to deal veteran players. As of Aug. 22, the Giants were seven games below .500 and 7½ games out of the final wild-card spot, but they have since won 14 of 20 games and currently trail the slumping New York Mets by only 1½ games with 13 remaining.

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported Eldridge’s callup.