D1 football splits the year into quiet, contact, evaluation, and dead periods — exact windows shift year to year, so always check the live calendar at NCAA.org before assuming a date applies. The one fixed rule for Aidan's class: coaches cannot call, text, DM, or email him directly until June 15 after sophomore year (June 2028). Before that, coaches can still watch film, attend games/camps during evaluation periods, and send camp invites or questionnaires — the first move just has to come from Aidan's side (email, Hudl link, camp sign-up). After June 15, contact is allowed but only during open contact periods — dead periods (typically clustered around signing days) still block calls/texts/in-person contact.

Unofficial visit: family pays every expense, can happen any time, no cap on how many — a great way to see campuses early, even as a freshman.

Official visit: the school can cover travel, lodging, and meals (typically up to 3 nights), but under current NCAA rules a recruit can't take one until Aug 1 of junior year, and is capped at 5 official visits total across all schools. Always confirm with the coach up front whether a visit is being offered as official or unofficial — that's what determines who's allowed to pay for what.

The NLI is a binding agreement between a recruit and a school — signing it commits Aidan to attend and the school to a scholarship for one academic year. It is not the same as a verbal or written offer — offers are informal and can be pulled by a coach at any time before signing. There's typically an early signing period in December and the regular signing period in February of senior year; Aidan's class (2030) signs in the 2029–30 cycle. Signing early locks the spot but also effectively ends conversations with other schools, so it's a decision that should come after official visits, not before them. Always check the current NCAA signing calendar since exact dates move slightly each year.

The transfer portal is the NCAA system players use to change schools. It matters for recruiting because it drives depth-chart movement — a program's need at DE/LB can shift fast once a portal window opens (typically one right after the season and one in spring; check current dates). Heavy portal turnover at a program can cut either way: more opportunity for a young player to see the field early, or more competition from older, portal-ready transfers instead of freshmen. A fair question for any coach: "how many scholarships at my position went to portal transfers the last two cycles?"

NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) lets athletes earn money off their own brand — sponsorships, camps, social content, merch. At the college level this is now normal and schools actively support it. At the high school level in Hawaii, there's no dedicated state NIL law written specifically for prep athletes as of early 2026 — and HHSAA's longstanding public position (per hhsaa.org) has been that doing NIL activity does not, by itself, change a high school athlete's eligibility. Separately, Hawaii lawmakers were still moving bills through committee as of February 2026 to set up a formal NIL framework — but that push is aimed at University of Hawaii college athletes, not high schoolers, and nothing had passed. Bottom line: nothing on the books today formally blocks Aidan from NIL activity, there's just no dedicated state HS rulebook yet — verify HHSAA's current policy and loop in Kamehameha's athletic director before signing anything, since this is moving fast and could change by the time it's relevant to him.

Green flags:

• Stable coaching staff, no recent coordinator churn
• Specific, direct answers about role and depth chart
• Connects the family with current players — not just the easy ones
• Upfront about scholarship terms and academic support

Red flags:

• Pressure to commit fast, before an official visit
• Vague or shifting answers about scholarship terms
• Dodges questions about depth chart or transfer portal churn
• Over-promises playing time before ever seeing film

Check each organization's own site every cycle for current dates, eligibility windows, and costs rather than relying on last year's info:

• Polynesian Bowl — an all-star game for top Polynesian high school players with an attached national combine circuit. Runs separate tracks by grade band (6th–8th grade underclassmen, then a high-school-age track) — confirm which track fits Aidan's current grad year directly on polynesianbowl.com/nationalcombine before registering, since eligible grad years shift by cycle.
• Polynesian Football Hall of Fame — runs scholarship programs and a combine/camp circuit for Polynesian athletes.
• Regional/national combines (Rivals, 247Sports, Under Armour, Army-style All-American circuits) — several run West Coast or Pacific stops worth tracking as an underclassman.