College coach gets fired, rules for transferring?

Be careful even talking to other schools. I was a at a NAIA school and merely contacted U of Indiana regarding about running in their grad program. I had a nightmare the following season because a letter had been filed indicating I spoke with them about transferring and my team status on the NAIA team was temporarily put on hold. I suggest talking to your AD first or second contacting someone at the NCAA instead of doing the leg work yourself. A weird situation, but, as odd as it sounds, being self-motivated here can get you in MORE trouble. If they have nothing to offer, see if there are any other resources. Try to be anonymous unless you have unquestionably certain knowledge there will be no repercussions of your behavior. Had I known simply talking to another school would have caused the problems I had I certainly wouldn't have done it. If nothing else, perhaps another school's AD would be willing to talk to your parents. They are NOT going to get you in trouble if they talk to another school's AD or athletic department. Hope that helps and sorry you're in a crappy situation. Maybe that the school will get a decent replacement coach. Oh, one more thought, maybe call up your old coach, give him your condolences and see if he/she knows. They may like the sympathy call.

well, they haven't been fired yet. It just doesn't look good. Thanks for the help. It would be nice to know my options if the inevitable happens. I'm only a freshmen and I picked the school almost 90% because of the coach. It's a bad deal.

You sign and are bound to the school, not the coach. No special circumstances. Coaches get fired every year. They are not required to release you.

-- wrote:

You sign and are bound to the school, not the coach. No special circumstances. Coaches get fired every year. They are not required to release you.

Yep. The athletic department has to release you. It is not up to the coach. Well, the coach will make recommendations to the AD, but if the coach is fired, it all comes down to the AD. If the AD is worth a damn, s/he'll release you since the coach who recruited you is out. If you're not released, you have to red-shirt a year. You can still be part of a team and train, and who knows, that could be a great thing for you in the long run.

However, keep in mind that NCAA rules state that you MUST sit out a year if you transfer within the conference. There is no releasing that can remove that rule. So, your best bet is to have a cool AD and to go out of conference.

When Jerry left Wisconsin a couple of guys transferred. The results were different because of how it was done. Bethke had to sit a year (Arizona State) and another guy did not. It probably had to do with how they went about it.

Several conferences have rules about having to sit out for inter-conference transfers -- Big Ten and Pac-10 (and I assume Pac-12 now has the same rule). There may be some differences if you are going to grad school at another school, but even then there are procedures that have to be followed. For instance, guy who is the star QB at Wisconsin transferred from NC State but was released from his scholarship (played baseball all summer) because the coach thought he would be gone and wanted to use the slot.

Wisconsin has a guy who is a grad student (I think) who transferred from Virgina. Not sure how that process was handled. Keeping things good with school 1 is almost a necessity. In your case, a fired coach is a situation where they do not want their better athletes departing, although they might not mind if a lesser guy goes and yields a scholarship slot (but often, lesser guys are not using a scholarship slot).

The Stache wrote:

However, keep in mind that NCAA rules state that you MUST sit out a year if you transfer within the conference. There is no releasing that can remove that rule.

This is false at the DII level and I suspect false for XC/Track on the DI level although I don't have the DI manual handy to confirm. Some conferences may have the rule in place for all/some of their sports, but overall in the NCAA it's not a rule.

To the OP, a coach leaving your school under any circumstances (fired, quit, whatever) does not give team members any additional rights regarding transfering to another school. You would have to go through the normal process. As to what Will posted in his reply, that may have been his experience but that says more about the specific of his relationship with his school or how that school operates rather than standard practice. I get contacted by students at other colleges all the time inquiring about possibly transfering into my college and running or skiing for us, and I know kids on my team make inquiries of this nature to other schools. The rule, and good ethical practice, is that until you have a "permission to contact" form in place, as a coach you don't put any effort into providing any sort of recruiting information or materials. In 11 years coaching I don't believe my college has ever denied permission for another school to contact our kids who are looking into transfering, and I've never been denied permission to contact anyone who has been looking into transfering to our school.

In the case both Ryan Collins and Russell Wilson, they graduated from their respective schools in 4 years. NCAA rules allow them to transfer without penalty. IU has a kid using his 5th year from Cornell.

Wisco Fan wrote:

In the case both Ryan Collins and Russell Wilson, they graduated from their respective schools in 4 years. NCAA rules allow them to transfer without penalty. IU has a kid using his 5th year from Cornell.

Yes, but I thought there was another factor with Russel Wilson. For instance, I think he graduated in just three years, not four. The reason I think that there might be another piece is that there was some element that required the NC State coach to release him, which he did because he thought that we was going pro in baseball and he wanted to have the slot available rather than holding it in case Wilson came back. Maybe the coach posting above could clarify a bit more.

Certain conferences require a person to sit out a year, but other conferences do not have that requirement. The NCAA has no such rule.

It's generally best to discuss transfer thoughts with the people at the school you currently attend before contacting other schools. The NCAA does have a rule that any other institution other than the one you currently attend must first receive permission from your school before it can communicate with you regarding transfer possibilities. So, you might as well go ahead and raise the discussion.

lost in Boston wrote:

Certain conferences require a person to sit out a year, but other conferences do not have that requirement. The NCAA has no such rule.

It's generally best to discuss transfer thoughts with the people at the school you currently attend before contacting other schools. The NCAA does have a rule that any other institution other than the one you currently attend must first receive permission from your school before it can communicate with you regarding transfer possibilities. So, you might as well go ahead and raise the discussion.

Good summary, this. Technically, neither you nor anyone who represents your interests (e.g. your parents or your old high school coach) may discuss a potential transfer with another school's personnel, until your current school has granted you a release for such a discussion.

By the way, this includes talking with Coach X (from your potential "target" school) when you're at a meet that his/her team is also attending. Don't put the coach on the spot by starting a conversation with her/him. Either Coach X will tell you that s/he can't talk with you, and thus look like a jerk; or Coach X *will* talk with you and break an NCAA rule. Two unattractive alternatives there...

Something a number of people don't know: NCAA athletic scholarships are only granted one year at a time. They're not guaranteed to be renewed.