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College Football/How many walk ons does the NCAA allow?

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Expert: - 4/23/2011


Question
My son wants to play football at a college  where his father played. He was not offered a scholarship but wants to walk on. He is 6'4 280 offensive lineman with a moderate HS career. The coach says they have a limited number of walk on positions due to NCAA regulations and  he will let us know depending on team needs. Is it true that NCAA mandates the number of walkons? Or is the coach just giving him a nice " no".

Answer
Thank you for your question.   The coach is probably telling it like it is.  He might just not know howmany spots he will have until he finishes the recruiting and until summer camp start.  Since his father played at the school, it might make things a bit easier and I would think his size helps as well.
If your son is considering a walk on position, one important thing that he should try to get is a guaranteed spot on the team.  The coach can do this.  Walk-ons are "generally" limited to 20 extra players within the NCAA-mandated 105-players roster limit, which can include a maximum of 85 scholarship players for Football Division I teams.  The different levels [i.e. Div. III, Div. II, Div. 1 FCS have different requirements and numbers.  Based on your question it doesn't sound like the coach can give a guarantee at this point.  Many times speciality players [i.e. Punters, kickers, Long Snappers can get guaranteed walk-on spot].  Teams set the number of walk-ons they will permit, and the NCAA sets the number of total roster spots and scholarships, so by elimination, generally if a team has a full 85 scholarship players and a team limit of 105 players walk-ons are limited to 20.  But if a team has had scholarships limited or a budget limits the number of squad members then the number of walk-ons could vary.  

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