I know there has been a lot about this subject of transferring lately but I am still not sure how it works in college. How soon can you transfer (like as a freshman or sophomore)? if you are not on a scholarship does that make it any easier? If the coach is just mean can they say no and make you sit out a year? and if they do, you still have the right to transfer, you just have to sit out a year when you get somewhere else right? Who do you start and ask first, the coach or the AD?
if you're not on scholarship you really don't need to tell anyone. you just don't enroll again and go somewhere else. if you are on scholarship you have to speak to the AD at least and it's usually good to speak to the coach to tell them why you want to transfer (helps them to release you). if the coach is mean, as you say, and he/she doesn't release you, you have to sit a year and you lose eligibility for that year. you can transfer whenever you want.
i recommend going to the ncaa's page and looking at their rules regarding transfers, which will give you a better idea. if you know anyone who has transferred i recommend speaking to them also.
The rules are the same whether you are on scholarship or not. You still need to get a release from the school. Even if you went to a school, never ran there and then transfered, you will still need a release from that school to compete at the new school. If a Division I school or coach gets a letter, phone call or e-mail from an athlete saying they want to transfer, the coach is not allowed to talk with them at all about transfering until they get a release, and as I said, this is whether you are getting money or not.
Be sure to talk to the AD. I wanted to transfer and e-mailed Bell at Indiana. Once. I lost interest and went about life as usual. The following year when it came time for monies to be given out I didn't get any. My coach knew I was coming (though a new coach). My AD knew I was coming. Only thing I didn't realize was that simply by e-mailing (never talking) to Bell, I caused my own problems. Be sure to talk to people first.
I think all the rules are still the same from when I did this in the late 80s, but to clear up a couple of things:
1. Rules are the same whether you are on scholarship or not.
2. You need an initial letter allowing you to talk w/ new coaches.
3. You need a release in order to be able to compete right away. Otherwise you need to sit a year.
4. If you don't get the release and sit a year, you don't lose that eligibility - its just like redshirting (as long as you haven't already used one).
5. Make sure you talk to your coach about it. I didn't know exactly what to do here so I blew him off and transferred after 1 semester. He didn't release me until the following fall (after most of cross was over) so I had to sit a whole year anyways. And I wasn't on scholarship there either.
do make sure you talk to your coaches. best to not stir the pot when you want to leave, some coaches turn when your loyalty changes. i made education claims and wanting to be closer to home for my reason to transfer - when it really was my coach/program that was the problem! that made it a whole lot easier. also talk to your AD as well. it was important for me to get released as i was reshirting at the time i was looking at transferring and i didn't want to miss that season the following year!
If you wanna post your email address, I and maybe other guys who've transferred can email you. Best not to use your school address, make up a yahoo or hotmail one.
I read the NCAA rules online and think that they are confusing. Is there a rule about the length of time you must spend before leaving? (like 2 semesters or 3 trimesters etc)