How To Get a Football Scholarship and Secure a Spot in Your Dream Team

iEditorial Note: These blog posts represent the opinion of DoNotPay’s Writers, but each person’s situation and circumstances vary greatly. As a result, you should make sure to do your own independent research. Because everyone is unique, our self-help tools are never guaranteed to help with any specific situation. DoNotPay is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law, and is not equivalent to the services of a licensed lawyer. DoNotPay provides a platform for legal information and self-help, and does not offer legal services. Third party news articles mentioned on our website do not necessarily reflect the views of the company, or the current services that we offer.

Top Tips on How To Get a Football Scholarship

Around 11,000 students get college scholarships from the 254 D1-level and 170 D2-level football teams that offer them every year. If you want to be one of those students, check out this guide to learn how to get a football scholarship that works for you!

You will also find out:

Where To Look for College Football Scholarships

High school students seeking college football scholarships need to start searching for opportunities as soon as they enter freshman year. If you wait for your senior year to start contacting football teams, the chances are that you’re too late.

Unlike regular scholarships, you need to reach out to numerous football teams on your own to find scholarship opportunities, so it’s best to start your research early. There’s no workaround to that process. If you use a scholarship search tool to search for football scholarships, you will get a list of scholarships for athletes in high school and college and awards for students seeking a degree in coaching.

A good practice is to look for external scholarship opportunities to further reduce your educational costs. Whether you’re a woman, a graduate student, an international student, a dependent of a veteran, or fall under any other student category, DoNotPay can help you find external scholarships to support your athletic career! to get a list of available options based on your qualifications!

How To Get College Football Scholarship Offers

To make sure coaches notice and recruit you, you need to meet specific academic and athletic requirements of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the division you want to play in.

Basic Requirements for College Football Scholarships

To become eligible for recruitment at any college football team, you need to meet the following basic requirements:

  1. Graduate from high school
  2. Earn a minimum grade point average in core courses and minimum test scores
    1. Division 1—2.3 GPA and a 900 SAT or 75 ACT sum score
    2. Division 2—2.2 GPA and an 840 SAT or 70 ACT sum score
    3. Division 3—no GPA and test score requirements
  3. Earn a combined SAT or ACT sum score that matches your core-course grade-point average and sliding scale for each division
  4. Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center
  5. Send test scores to the Eligibility Center

Core Class Requirements for Each Division

If you ever wondered how to get a D1 scholarship for football, check the following table to learn more about the core classes you need to take to play in your desired division:

DivisionCore Classes
Division 1
  • Four years of English
  • Three years of math
  • Two years of physical or natural science (and one additional year of lab science if offered by your high school)
  • Two years of social science
  • One extra year of math, English, or natural or physical science
  • Four years of extra core courses (from any category above or philosophy, foreign language, or non-doctrinal religion)
Division 2
  • Three years of English
  • Two years of math
  • Two years natural or physical science (including one year of lab science if offered by your high school)
  • One additional year of English, math, or natural or physical science
  • Two years of social science
  • Three years of extra core courses (from any category above or philosophy, foreign language, or non-doctrinal religion)
Division 3
  • No academic requirements

How To Contact a Football Coach

To make a football coach notice you, you will need to prepare:

  1. Your academic information
  2. A highlights video
  3. Your best athletic statistics and achievements
  4. Your contact information

Contacting football team coaches as early as your freshman or sophomore year is vital to getting a football scholarship. You can use various means to keep in touch with your future mentors, including:

  • Mail
  • Social media
  • Email
  • Phone

Requirements for External Scholarships

Some football scholarships offer a full ride, while others don’t. If you’re left with a financial gap after receiving a football scholarship, you can apply for external scholarships and grants to try and cover the remainder of your expenses. In that case, you might need:

Find Scholarships to Kickstart Your Athletic Career With DoNotPay

DoNotPay filters all available scholarships using your qualifications to create a unique list of opportunities for you. Our app can help you learn more about scholarship requirements and the awards you can win.

Are you a prospective or current college football player? If so, you can find opportunities to fill the financial gap left in three simple steps:

  1. in any web browser
  2. Enter Apply for Scholarships in the search bar
  3. Tell us more about your qualifications

Are you tired of completing dozens of identical forms for no-essay scholarships? Don’t fret—our app can handle them automatically! That way, DoNotPay saves you the precious time you need for football practice.

DoNotPay Offers Quick Solutions to Tedious Problems

Are you overwhelmed by your never-ending to-do list? We’re happy to jump in with a perfect solution to deal with everyday tasks the easy way!

Once you subscribe to DoNotPay, you’ll be able to schedule DMV appointments, lower your monthly bills, and contest parking tickets without breaking a sweat!

If you are looking for further assistance, our app will show you how to deal with the following tasks effortlessly:

Rely on DoNotPay’s Assistance Any Time!

If a company refuses to cooperate, use DoNotPay—the world’s first AI Consumer Champion—to send demand letters to it in small claims court! Getting the justice you deserve is only a few clicks away!

You can also use our app’s various features to do the following:

Fight for your rights