In August 2012, the Illinois football program sent a photograph of a freshman student-athlete to his former high school. The photograph included head coach Tim Beckman.

While completing a routine review of recruiting expenses, the compliance office discovered this was an NCAA Level II violation and knew it must be reported to the Big Ten Conference.

Though schools are allowed to send photos of current athletes to former high schools, the rule prohibits coaches from appearing in the photographs.

This kind of violation may not exist come Aug. 1, when the NCAA will put in place a new set of rules and new method of enforcement.

At a board of directors meeting in January, the NCAA decided it needed a manual based more on “common sense.” There are 25 new rules, many of which are focused on recruiting.

Ryan Squire, associate athletic director for compliance at Illinois, said there are many rules that are overly restrictive and unnecessary.

“We need to figure out where can we be more reasonable from a principle standpoint,” Squire said. “Where with some things, really, what’s the harm? From a regulatory standpoint, where there’s no way to enforce that rule, why have a rule that’s unenforceable?”

The biggest change eliminates the restriction of how frequently a coach can call or text a player. Coaches will not be limited in the number of times they can contact a recruit. Quiet and dead periods no longer exist.

The concern is coaches may harass the recruits, continually texting and calling them, especially if they are a highly ranked player. Squire said he does not think the rule will cause as much controversy as everyone is predicting and said he thinks it will eventually self-regulate.

“It’s a positive development that we deregulate some of those modes of communication and frequency of communication — as long as we find the right start date.”

The tentative start date for this rule change is July 1, while the other rules will be go into effect come August. The only other rule that will begin in July eliminates restrictions on sending printed materials sent to recruits.

In an interview with NCAA.org, NCAA President Mark Emmert discussed why the new rules were passed and what purpose they serve. Emmert said the main point is to focus more on fair competition than trying to regulate the impossible.

“The deregulation effort hopes to shift the focus from limiting the advantages of individual schools to making sure all schools compete within the framework of the collegiate model,” Emmert said in the interview.

For Squire, it also means fewer secondary violations he’ll have to self-report every year on behalf of Illinois, allowing more time to investigate serious violations.

“A lot of inadvertent things can happen, and I don’t think it’s something harmful to the recruiting process,” Squire said.

Kerry Kenny, associate director of compliance for the Big Ten, said the rules have been in development for the past 18 months.

“A lot of these rules are trying to make things easier to interpret and apply in a more consequential and significant fashion,” Kenny said. “It’s going to mitigate some of the issues that compliance and coaches have in interpreting what a rule is actually saying.”

Kerry said the conference averages about 250 self-reported violations, which he considers to be an acceptable, “healthy” number. Kerry said the Big Ten is used in an advisory capacity for compliance offices to help interpret the rules.

The NCAA also has developed a new enforcement structure for violations. Instead of having major and secondary violations, the system will move to a four-tier system. The top two levels are reflective of what major violations are now and the bottom two of what are now secondary violations. The new structure goes into effect on Aug. 1.

Kenny said the new monitoring system should help classify violation severity.

“The new system clearly states what violations end up in what categories,” Kenny said. “It places more of a significance of those violations that could end up in the two top-tier categories than the ones that are not as significant.”

The goal for the four tiers is to focus more heavily on what each violation means and the punishment that follows. They will help the coaches understand the potential consequences and penalties. 

Samantha can be reached at [email protected] and @SammieKiesel.