With high school players around the country happily signing a National Letter of Intent to legally commit themselves to play football at the college of their choice, it’s worth a moment to review how national signing day is different for Air Force.

Since Air Force doesn’t have athletic scholarships, it also doesn’t do letters of intent. The academy will not release an official list of recruits like most schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision (the one published by The Gazette later today will be unofficial, compiled from various sources).

Here’s what Air Force posted on its official website last year, explaining how the academy differs from civilian schools on signing day:

“Due to the Academy appointment process, names of recruited student-athletes will not be released until they arrive on campus this summer. Air Force coaches and administrators are not allowed to comment about recruits due to the Privacy Act, therefore head football coach Troy Calhoun is not available to discuss any specifics about recruits.

Many high school student-athletes will participate in signing days and appear to sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI) with the Air Force Academy, but they are actually signing a Certificate of Intent which is a non-binding agreement that signifies an athlete’s commitment to follow through with the appointment process and allows them to participate in signing day for publicity purposes. The Academy is a non-scholarship institution and doesn’t use the National Letter of Intent, as most civilian schools do.” 

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