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Recruiting Guide

Football recruiting — the honest version.

The honest guide to college football recruiting — the long timeline, what coaches evaluate, division landscape, and the post-settlement scholarship math.

College football recruiting is the largest, longest, and most-watched recruiting ecosystem in college athletics. The old FBS rule of 85 full rides ended with the House settlement (2025) — FBS now runs a 105-player roster cap where offers can be full or partial. This page covers the realistic timeline, measurables by position, the division-by-division landscape, and the recruiting services that drive football specifically.

The realistic recruiting timeline

8th grade
Elite national prospects begin appearing on coach radar. Profile-building only — no formal contact permitted.
Freshman
Top regional and national prospects build national-rankings visibility through 247Sports, Rivals, On3. Camps + 7-on-7 begin to matter.
Sophomore
NCAA permits formal D1 contact beginning June 15 after sophomore year (verify current calendar). Many top-100 prospects commit during sophomore year.
Junior
Peak D1 recruiting year. Official visits and unofficial visits in full swing. Most D1 commits land here.
Senior
Early signing period in December, regular signing period in February. Late-cycle D2, FCS, NAIA, JUCO recruiting continues into spring and summer.

Measurables that actually matter

Coaches filter recruits on a small set of numbers before they ever watch your film. These are the measurables that drive the conversation in Football recruiting:

Note on ranges: The D1 typical ranges below are commonly-cited industry benchmarks based on recent recruiting cycles. They're a reference point, not a current-year source-of-truth. Verify against published commit data from recruiting media and sport-specific scouting services (Perfect Game, MileSplit, etc.) for your current cycle, and treat coaches' direct evaluations as the final word.

Height & weight
D1 typical: position-dependent
Position-specific. D1 QBs typically 6'2"+; OL 6'4"+/290+; DL 6'3"+/270+; LB 6'0"+/220+; WR 6'0"+/185+; DB 5'10"+/175+. Substantially below these for FCS/D2/D3.
40-yard dash
D1 typical: 4.4-5.4 (varies by position)
Primary speed metric. D1 typical: WR/DB 4.4-4.6, RB 4.4-4.7, LB 4.6-4.8, TE 4.6-4.8, OL/DL 4.9-5.4.
Vertical jump
D1 typical: 30"-38"
Lower-body explosiveness. D1 typical 30"-38"; D2 typically 26"-32".
Bench press / squat
D1 typical: 275-400+ lbs
Strength benchmarks reported widely in recruiting. D1 OL/DL typically bench 300+; LBs 275+.
Game film + IQ
D1 typical: coach judgment
Football recruiting is film-driven more than any other sport. Coaches evaluate technical execution, situational awareness, and football IQ from game video before traveling to evaluate in person.

The division landscape

FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) has 134 D1 programs across major conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, Group of 5). FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) has 128 programs at the D1 level but with equivalency scholarships. D2 football has ~166 programs. D3 has ~250+ programs. NAIA has dozens. JUCO is a real bridge path — many MAC, Conference USA, and mountain-region D1 programs heavily recruit JUCO transfers.

Scholarship counts by division

Division Scholarship reality
NCAA FBS (D1, top tier) The old 85-full-rides headcount rule ended with the House settlement (2025): FBS rosters cap at 105 with up to 105 equivalency scholarships — offers can now be full OR partial. Ask every program what an offer actually contains.
NCAA FCS (D1, championship subdivision) Split structure post-settlement: opted-in FCS programs can fund up to the 105-player cap; others keep the legacy 63-equivalency-over-~85 structure. Partials common either way — ask which structure the school runs.
NCAA Division II 36 equivalency scholarships. Partials universal.
NCAA Division III Zero athletic scholarships. Academic and need-based aid available.
NAIA 24 equivalency scholarships.
JUCO (NJCAA Div I) 85 scholarships. Strong developmental and academic-bridge pipeline.

The showcase and recruiting circuits that matter

Not every event is worth attending. These are the circuits with consistent college-coach attendance for Football:

247Sports / Rivals / On3
The three major recruiting media networks. They rank recruits nationally and regionally; D1 coaches monitor them closely.
Elite 11 / The Opening (Nike)
Top QB and skill-position camps. Heavy D1 coach attendance.
7-on-7 leagues (Pylon, OT7, etc.)
Spring and summer skill-position competition. Strong D1 visibility for QB/WR/DB athletes.
College ID camps + Junior Days
Programs run their own camps and recruiting-focused on-campus events. Direct exposure to coaching staff.
Polynesian Bowl / Under Armour All-America
Top-tier senior all-star games for elite prospects.
Lightning for Players & Parents
$25 – $50 / year
Verified-stat Football recruiting profile · multi-sport friendly · parent-controlled visibility
Build a Football recruiting profile →

Where Lightning fits

Lightning supports a multi-sport profile by default — so a Football recruit who also plays another sport doesn't have to pay extra or hide it. Your verified Football measurables flow into a college-coach-searchable database. Parent-controlled visibility lets middle-school families build profiles quietly without exposing kids to premature recruiting pressure.

At $25/yr for the base tier and $50/yr for Pro (with AI-drafted college outreach), Lightning replaces the $1,000-$3,500/yr that recruiting services like NCSA charge for similar functionality.