The following rule changes were recommended by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2022 season:[2]
When players are disqualified for a targeting call in the second half or in overtime (which requires a carryover penalty of sitting out the first half of the next scheduled game), an appeals process will be available to allow the National Coordinator of Officials (currently Steve Shaw) to review tapes of the targeting penalty for consideration of not requiring the player to sit out the first half of the following game.
Injury timeouts awarded due to "deceptive actions" during a game will also be able to reviewed by the National Coordinator of Officials to determine what sanctions, if any, against teams who use this tactic, enforced at the conference or school level.
Blocking below the waist will only be permitted inside the tackle box by linemen and stationary backs. Blocks below the waist outside of the tackle box are not allowed.
Defensive holding will remain a 10-yard penalty but will always carry an automatic first down.
Codifying the rule change made shortly after the 2021 ACC Championship Game, ball carriers who simulate a feet-first slide will be declared down at that spot.
Uniform rules would require the sock/leg covering to go from the shoe to the bottom of the pants, similar to the NFL rule.
Notable headlines
May 18 – The ASUN Conference and Western Athletic Conference renewed their football alliance for the 2022 season, as each suffered key losses of members starting FBS transitions, rendering them ineligible for a playoff automatic qualifier (AQ) as separate leagues. Eight alliance members (three WAC, five ASUN) competed for a single AQ in the FCS playoffs.[3]
August 31 – The Division I Board of Directors adopted a series of changes to transfer rules.[4]
Transfer windows were adopted for all Division I sports. Student-athletes who wish to be immediately eligible at their next school must enter the NCAA transfer portal within the designated period(s) for their sport. For FCS football, two windows were established: a 45-day window starting the day after postseason selections are made, and a spring window from May 1–15. Accommodations will be made for participants in the FCS championship game.
Student-athletes who experience head coaching changes, or those whose athletic aid is reduced, canceled, or not renewed, may transfer outside designated windows without penalty.
Transferring student-athletes will be guaranteed their financial aid at their next school through graduation.
September 21 – Houston Baptist University announced a name change to Houston Christian University, effective immediately.[5]
December 9 – In the highest-scoring game in FCS playoff history, Incarnate Word defeated previously unbeaten Sacramento State 66–63. UIW quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. threw four touchdown passes to bring his season total to 59, surpassing the previous FCS record of 57 held by Jeremiah Briscoe of Sam Houston in 2016.[6] Scott ended the season with 60, having thrown one TD pass in UIW's 35–32 semifinal loss to North Dakota State.[7]
In November 2021, Incarnate Word announced a move to the Western Athletic Conference for the 2022 season.[8] Days before officially joining, on June 24, the school backed out of that plan, recommitting to the Southland Conference.[9]
* Note: Sam Houston ineligible for WAC championship and FCS postseason play due to start of transition to FBS; Tarleton and Utah Tech ineligible for FCS postseason play due to transition from NCAA Division II.
The FCS again featured a 24-team postseason bracket: 11 teams decided via automatic bids issued to conference champions, and 13 at-large bids; the top eight teams were seeded.[10]
This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2022, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled games but before its playoff games. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2022, see 2021 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.