NCAA Earthquake: New Policy Brings End to Letter of Intent

© Ken Ruinard/staff/USA TODAY NETWORK

As the landscape of college football and college sports continues to shift, the NCAA sent shockwaves with recent moves. The NCAA has enacted two noticeable changes: the elimination of the National Letter of Intent (NLI) and the shortening of the transfer portal from 45 days to 30.

National Letter of Intent

The NLI program was first created in 1964 as a binding agreement between an athlete and a particular college program. In the letter, the athlete would commit to a university for a specific period, it would also include any details about the scholarship for the first year.

It was created by J. William Davis who was a Professor of Government and Faculty Athletics Representative at what would later become known as Texas Tech and assisted by Howard Grubbs who was commissioner of the Southwest Conference. It was created to protect both athletes and the university from either party backing out. In October 2007, the NCAA became responsible for the program's administration.

What Will Take the Place of the NLI

With the NCAA's decision to eliminate the NLI, players will now sign a written offer of athletics aid or scholarship with a university. This offer will provide many of the same core functions as the NLI. The decision to eliminate the NLI is a first step in the expected sweeping changes associated with the upcoming settlement in the House v. NCAA. The settlement will see $2.8 billion in damages paid to current and former athletes as the NIL (Name Image and Likeness) landscape evolves.

The settlement, whose final hearing is set for April 7, 2025, will see universities able to officially pay their athletes $20 million or more collectively as soon as next fall. Currently, athletes can earn money through NIL collectives and other businesses via sponsorships and endorsements.

© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The decision to eliminate the NLI comes just over a year after the Collegiate Commissioners Association, which oversees the program, opted to make its previous policy changes. Under those changes, the association allowed athletes to exit the agreement without penalty for specific reasons such as coaching changes. Those changes took effect for the most recent 2023-2024 signing periods for athletes enrolled during the 2024-25 academic year.

Transfer Windows Shortened

The NCAA has also shortened the transfer windows in football, men's basketball and women's basketball, the three biggest college sports by 15 days. In football, there will still be two separate windows one from Dec. 9-28 and another from April 16-25.

While the overall window has shortened, the Winter window remains a thorn in the side of many as it coincides with the bowl games of the current season. Unfortunately, many students need to be enrolled in their new school in time for the upcoming semester and need to enter before the bowl game has been played. With more changes expected to be coming to the college football landscape, could we see a meaningful change to the winter transfer window?