Maryland football coach Randy Edsall doesn’t agree with new NCAA recruiting rules that would allow coaches to make unlimited contact with prospects. The new rules, which are due to go into effect in August, also would eliminate restrictions on staff size used for recruiting, and eliminate restrictions on recruiting materials that can be sent in the mail.

“I hate ‘em,” Edsall said of the changes. “I think they were all voted in without a lot of insight into what was going on. I know we’re going to try to get them all overridden so they won’t go into effect.”

Meeting with coaches from the Big Ten, Edsall said his opinion is “unanimous,” and that many coaches are working with administrators to get the rules repealed. Edsall said that coaches in the ACC share the same opinion. He believes the NCAA acted hastily, without getting appropriate input from coaches.

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“I just think we’re going down a very slippery slope,” Edsall said. “What the NCAA is trying to do is they’re trying to make blanket rules for all the sports and it doesn’t work that way.”

“In football I’ve got nine full-time coaches. If that rule goes into effect they’re going to have to call between 10 and 20 senior prospects every week,” Edsall said. “Then they’re going to be recruiting 25 to probably 35 junior prospects. Now they’re gonna have to call those juniors, because if you don’t, you’re not showing them the love and they’re gonna get all upset. Now I’m gonna have coaches that are gonna have to call anywhere from 35 to 50 kids during the week while we’re trying to game plan, coach our own players.”

Edsall said that some schools are looking to create separate scouting departments and compared it to the way professional football teams operate with player personnel organizations. A financially-strapped program such as Maryland will be particularly impacted.

“The added expense that this would incur is going to be ridiculous in terms of salaries and everything else,” Edsall said. “If they don’t override it and it goes into effect, it’s going to he the wild, wild west. Being able to do whatever you want with media guides, printed materials, everything else. There’s only a handful [of schools] that have all that money.”

Opponents of the new rules have until March 20 to garner 75 votes from school presidents to begin the process to repeal the new measures.

Kdunleavy@washingtonexaminer.com