J. William Davis is known as the father of the National Letter of Intent for college athletics.
Seth Davis, a columnist for Sports Illustrated, has suggested that this arrangement is actually disadvantageous to student-athletes, as they have no recourse if an athletics department decides not to admit a player for non-academic reasons; for example, an athletics department could replace a signed recruit with another recruit by claiming that the first one was not admitted for academic reasons.
The NLI is an agreement between the athlete and their school they have chosen to certify that they are entering a four-year institution for the first time.
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National Signing Day, usually the first Wednesday of February, is the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for college football with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
On November 9, 2011, Ferrell signed a letter of intent to play for Indiana University, turning down offers from Butler, Florida, Virginia, and Wake Forest.