STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Joe Lusardi is a 58-year-old high school coach in Randolph, N.J. He does not own a cellphone, preferring to communicate “the old-fashioned way,” face to face or using a landline. Others tend to value their time more, and his.

Yet even a technological hermit like Lusardi has been reachable and overwhelmed this week, after the N.C.A.A. levied devastating sanctions against the Penn State football program. Along with the sanctions — which included depth-depleting scholarship limits and a four-year postseason ban — the N.C.A.A. granted current Penn State players and incoming freshmen the right to transfer to any other university, without being blocked by Penn State and without having to sit out a year.

It was an unprecedented step that has set off a flurry of activity among coaches from other teams, who are calling Penn State players and recruits, and those close to them, to gauge their interest in transferring or rescinding their commitments to the Nittany Lions.

“It’s a madhouse,” said Lusardi, who coaches Brendan Mahon, a highly rated offensive lineman who committed to play at Penn State in 2013. “They’ll call you or they’ll e-mail you, and if I don’t answer, they’ll try and get in touch.”