Does Texas High School Football Use NCAA Rules?
Short answer
Yes. Texas is the only state whose public high schools play football under the NCAA rulebook instead of the NFHS (National Federation) rulebook. But it is not straight NCAA: the University Interscholastic League publishes an annual document called UIL Exceptions to NCAA Football Rules, and those exceptions overwrite the NCAA text wherever the two conflict. The current edition covers the 2026–27 school year, is dated May 26, 2026, and contains 60 numbered items.
So the correct way to say it: Texas high school football is played under NCAA rules as modified by UIL exceptions. Quote the NCAA book alone and you will sometimes be wrong. Quote the NFHS book and you will be working from the wrong book entirely.
Jump to: why Texas is different · how a UIL exception works · the differences that actually come up · NFHS vs. NCAA vs. UIL · the official documents
Why Texas is different
Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia base high school football on the NFHS rulebook. Texas does not, and hasn't for decades. Massachusetts was the other holdout — the MIAA voted in 2018 to move football to NFHS rules effective the 2019–20 school year, which left Texas alone.
The practical consequence: almost every article, video, coaching clinic, message-board answer, and general-purpose AI chatbot that explains “the high school football rule” is explaining the NFHS rule. In a UIL game that answer is not just differently worded — it is frequently the wrong ruling.
Two scope notes. First, this page is about UIL eleven-man football. UIL six-man has its own additional exceptions, published separately in the UIL Football Handbook. Second, the UIL governs public schools; private and parochial school associations in Texas set their own playing rules, so confirm the code with the sanctioning association before you work one of those games.
What “NCAA rules as modified by UIL exceptions” actually means
The UIL document is not a rulebook. It is a diff. Each item reprints the NCAA rule and then states the change, and the item numbers are kept in NCAA rule-number order. Exceptions come in four flavors:
- “Change to read…” — the NCAA sentence is replaced with new text (this is how game length becomes 48 minutes).
- “Add…” — the NCAA rule stands and a Texas allowance is bolted on (this is how white sweat socks become legal).
- “Delete…” / “Does not apply to UIL games” — the NCAA provision is switched off (this is how the NCAA’s targeting carryover structure is replaced).
- “UIL Note” — the rule is unchanged but Texas supplies a binding interpretation (for example, the definition of a lineman positioned “completely inside the tackle box”).
There is also one rule in the Texas document with no NCAA counterpart at all: a UIL-only personal foul on field goal and try attempts, described below.
A citation habit worth having: cite the NCAA rule number (for example 1-4-4-h), not the UIL item number. The NCAA numbers are stable inside an edition; UIL renumbers its items every year to stay in sequence with the NCAA book, so “Exception #15” can point at a different rule next season. When you do cite an item number, name the year with it.
The Texas differences that actually come up
Not all 60 items, but the ones that change a ruling, a game-management decision, or a pregame conversation. NCAA rule numbers are given so you can find both texts side by side.
Timing and the clock
| Topic | NCAA rule | NCAA book | UIL (Texas) game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game length | 3-2-1, 2-29-1 | 60 minutes, four 15-minute periods | 48 minutes, four 12-minute periods at varsity. Below varsity, periods may be shortened by mutual consent of the schools. |
| Halftime | 3-2-1-b | 20 minutes unless shortened by mutual agreement | Maximum 28 minutes regular season, 24 minutes post-season (28 if both schools agree); State Championship halftime is 24. The intermission begins when the field is clear of all players and coaches. |
| Clock after a Team A first down | 3-3-2-e-1 | Starts on the referee’s signal only for a first down awarded after the Two-Minute Timeout in the 2nd or 4th quarter | The time restriction is deleted: the clock stops and restarts on the referee’s signal on any Team A first down, through play or by penalty, all game long. NCAA 3-3-2-e-3 is deleted outright. |
| Runner ruled out of bounds | 3-3-2-d-2 | Starts on the snap only after the Two-Minute Timeout in the 2nd or 4th quarter | Starts on the snap whenever a Team A ball carrier, fumble, or backward pass is ruled out of bounds, all game. (After a Team A forward fumble the clock still starts on the referee’s signal.) |
| Two-Minute Timeout | 3-3-5 | Referee stops the clock at exactly two minutes in the 2nd and 4th quarters; a media timeout is held back to coincide with it | The Two-Minute Timeout itself applies in Texas as written. UIL adds one line: if both teams indicate a readiness to resume play before the minute expires, the referee will declare the ball ready for play. |
| Televised 30-second team timeouts | 3-3-8-b | Shortened timeouts for live televised games | Deleted — does not apply to UIL games. |
| Officials’ jurisdiction | 11-1-1 | Begins 90 minutes before kickoff | Begins 60 minutes before kickoff. The NCAA pregame field-configuration articles are deleted. |
Overtime
| Topic | NCAA rule | NCAA book | UIL (Texas) game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overtime coin toss | 3-1-3-b | Officials escort the captains to midfield; the visiting field captain calls the toss | Officials escort the head coaches to the center of the field. The referee tosses the coin in the presence of each head coach and another official, and the visiting head coach calls it. The winner still may not defer. |
| Tiebreaker format | 3-1-3 | NCAA tiebreaker after four periods | Varsity and playoff games use the NCAA tiebreaker procedure. In district games where the referee has been told pregame that UIL “positive points” criteria are in use, the scoring team may elect to play the try down in an extra period, and a defense that refuses can have the points awarded without a snap. |
| Try after a fourth-quarter-expiring touchdown | 8-3-2-a | Try not attempted unless it would affect the outcome | Same — except in varsity district games using “positive points,” where the scoring team may elect to play the try down. The coaches must tell the referee in the pregame conference. |
Field, ball, and kicking
| Topic | NCAA rule | NCAA book | UIL (Texas) game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kickoff spot | 6-1-1 | Kicking team’s 35-yard line | 40-yard line. A free kick after a safety is still from the 20. |
| Goal post width | 1-2-5-b | 18 feet 6 inches, inside to inside | 23 feet 4 inches. If UIL schools play on a collegiate field where only 18’6” posts exist, the collegiate posts may be used by mutual agreement. |
| Upright height | 1-2-5-a | At least 30 feet above the ground | 30-foot uprights recommended; 20-foot uprights mandatory. |
| Tee on a place kick | 2-16-4, 2-16-11-i | Ball controlled on the ground by a teammate; a tee may not elevate the ball more than one inch; the free kick after a fair-catch-style scrimmage kick specifies “no tee” | The ball may be controlled on the ground or a tee; a tee may elevate the ball’s lowest point up to two inches. A holder is still required unless the kick is a drop kick. |
| Field markings, pylons, limit lines, visual play clock, referee microphone | 1-2-1, 1-2-3, 1-2-6, 2-29-2, 1-4-13-a | Various items are “mandatory” | Repeatedly downgraded to “recommended.” Eight pylons are mandatory, twelve recommended. A referee’s microphone is recommended, not required — but if one is used, the other provisions of the NCAA rule still apply. |
| Balls offered for play | 1-3-2-a | Up to ten balls per team tested by the officials | At least one ball must be offered; two per team recommended. Professional league logos and the ball advertising restrictions do not apply. |
Uniforms and equipment
| Topic | NCAA rule | NCAA book | UIL (Texas) game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Socks | 1-4-4-h | Players of a team must wear socks or leg coverings identical in color and design | Any player may wear white sweat socks in lieu of the team’s matching socks. This is the single most commonly missed Texas difference. |
| Guardian Caps | 1-4-4-a-2 | Helmets for all players of a team must be the same color and design | One or more players may wear a Guardian Cap provided it is the same color as teammates’ helmets; a cover may be worn over the cap to match. Logos and numbers are not required on caps or covers. |
| Spats | 1-4-8-a | No player wearing illegal equipment shall play | Elastic ankle coverings / spats are allowed in UIL games. |
| Tinted eyewear | 1-4-6-c | Eye shields, eyeglasses, and goggles must be clear and not tinted; “No medical exceptions are allowed.” | That last sentence is deleted. Tinted eyeglasses or goggles are permitted with a current-season UIL Medical Exemption Form that the head coach presents to the referee before the game. Tinted eye shields remain prohibited, with no medical exception. |
| Visiting team jersey color | 1-4-5-b | The visiting team shall wear white | White is suggested. A contrasting light-colored jersey with clearly visible numbers is acceptable instead, and that light jersey does not require home-coach agreement. Written pregame agreement mechanics differ, and a team can avoid the penalty by producing the written agreement before the scheduled kickoff. |
| Jersey wording | 1-4-5-a-2 | Names, school marks, NCAA logo, etc. | Rewritten for Texas: UIL logo instead of the NCAA logo, plus a team slogan or acronym and words reflecting positive values in place of the player’s name, both by local district approval. |
| Jersey numerals | 1-4-5-c | Contrasting, clearly visible numerals | Unchanged, plus a UIL note: numerals must be clearly visible from press-box level and on film, enforcement at varsity is expected to be strict, and questionable jerseys should be submitted to TASO for a decision. |
| Duplicate numbers | 9-2-2-e | No more than two squad members may wear the same number | Does not apply. More than two may be assigned a number — but they still may not wear it in the same game at the same position, or participate in the same down wearing identical numbers. |
| Towels | 1-4-6-a-1 | Solid white only, no words or numbers | Towels may be school color and may carry the school name, initials, or mascot insignia. Numbers are still not allowed. |
Technology
| Topic | NCAA rule | NCAA book | UIL (Texas) game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sideline video and data | 1-4-11-a | Up to 18 tablets, in-game video only, usable on the sideline | Replaced by UIL policy: video and data technology is limited to the coaching booths and locker rooms — none on the sideline or in the team area. Officials do not police it, but must report suspected violations; enforcement runs through the UIL and DEC, up to forfeiture. Approaching an official with video is still an automatic unsportsmanlike conduct foul. |
| Coach-to-player communication | 1-4-11-b | Green-dot helmet radio, one player, FBS/FCS | Replaced: one-way wearable technology (watches, wristbands, belt packs) is permitted for play calls, with no limit on the number of players and no cutoff. Transmission must come from the press box only. |
| Instant replay | Rule 12 | Replay system with a replay official | UIL Modified Rule 12 may be used in televised state championship games. Assume no replay in the game you are working. |
Fouls, targeting, and ejections
| Topic | NCAA rule | NCAA book | UIL (Texas) game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting penalty | 9-1-3, 9-1-4 | 15 yards plus a tiered season-long disqualification and carryover structure, with replay review of the disqualification | The entire NCAA penalty statement is replaced: 15 yards, automatic first down for Team B fouls where not in conflict, flagrant offenders disqualified, a second targeting foul by the same player in the same game requires disqualification, and disqualification is for the remainder of that game only. The UIL, the District Executive Committee, or the school district may add discipline. UIL keeps the “when in question, call the foul” instruction, and a second targeting foul in a game is automatically treated as flagrant. |
| Ejected / disqualified players | 2-27-12, 9-2-1-b-2, 9-2-6 | An ejected player must leave the playing enclosure and stay out of view of the field | “Disqualified” and “ejected” are used interchangeably, and the player is not required to leave the team area. Future participation runs through the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules: the player misses the rest of that game plus the first half of the next one — with an exception for a targeting disqualification, which carries no automatic first-half suspension. |
| Fighting | 9-5 | NCAA fighting structure and suspensions | Rule 9 Section 5 is replaced with a UIL section built around leaving the team area to participate in a fight, with a designated-peacemaker exception for coaches named before the game. |
| Injury timeout | 3-3-6 | A team is charged a timeout when a player presents as injured after the ball is spotted; feigning-injury video review through the national coordinator | The charged-timeout sentence is deleted, and the NCAA feigning-injury paragraph does not apply to UIL games. |
| Blocking below the waist | 9-1-6 | Linemen with initial position “completely inside the tackle box” have limited below-the-waist blocking rights | Rule unchanged, but a UIL note defines the term: the lineman must be within five yards of the snapper and no more than the second lineman from the snapper. |
| UIL-only rule: personal foul on field goals and try attempts | no NCAA counterpart | — | On a place kick (field goal or try), a defensive player who was not in a three- or four-point stance in a stationary position within one yard of his line of scrimmage at the snap may not enter the neutral zone and initiate forcible contact with an opponent in or behind the neutral zone. Incidental or slight contact is ignored, and there is no foul once it is obvious the kick will not be attempted or the kick has been blocked. Penalty: personal foul, 15 yards and an automatic first down. |
Several other items are administrative rather than on-field: the NCAA sanctions and conference-certification machinery does not apply to UIL games, team-area headcount limits are waived, the required number of officials may be waived, TASO or UIL mechanics govern instead of the collegiate officials manual, and suspended-game resolution follows a detailed UIL good-faith framework instead of conference policy.
NFHS vs. NCAA vs. UIL: how to keep them straight
Three different books get talked about as “the high school football rules,” and only two of them matter in Texas.
- NFHS — the National Federation rulebook, used by 49 states and D.C. It is not the Texas book. An NFHS-based answer may happen to match the Texas outcome, but it is not authority for a UIL game and its rule numbers do not correspond to anything you can cite.
- NCAA — the base text for Texas. This is the book you cite in a UIL game, and its rule numbers are the ones to use.
- UIL exceptions — the overlay that wins wherever it speaks. Read it as a patch applied on top of the NCAA book.
A useful mental model: UIL adapted a college rulebook to high school conditions. That is why some Texas answers land on familiar high-school numbers — kickoffs from the 40, high-school-width goal posts, 12-minute quarters — while the reasoning, the wording, and the citation all remain NCAA plus a Texas exception. Getting the outcome right by way of the wrong book is not good enough when someone asks you for the rule.
Where the official documents live
- uiltexas.org/football/manual — the UIL football rules page, which links the current UIL Exceptions to NCAA Football Rules along with the football plan, rule amendments, and ejection guidance.
- taso.org — 2026 UIL Football Rule Exceptions — TASO’s posting of the same document for its members.
- 2026 UIL Exceptions to NCAA Football Rules, eleven-man (PDF) — the 2026–27 edition, dated May 26, 2026.
- The NCAA football rulebook itself, for the base text of every rule the exceptions modify.
- UIL six-man exceptions live separately, in the UIL Football Handbook.
UIL revises this document annually and mid-year revisions happen. Officials, coaches, and administrators should verify anything consequential against the current official book and the current-year exceptions before acting on it — including anything on this page.
Have a specific play in mind?
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Booth Challenge is an independent product. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the Texas Association of Sports Officials (TASO), the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), or the NCAA. Rule references are provided for discussion and study. The official published rulebooks and the current-year UIL exceptions are the only authority.