This holiday season, some of the nation’s top high school football players will be given a three-day stretch to finalize their college recruiting process.
The Collegiate Commissioners Association on Monday approved a change to the recruiting calendar by adding an early signing period from December 20 through December 22. The change is effective this year, meaning the recruiting madness will hit a new high at one of the oddest times of the year.
As expected, the Collegiate Commissioners Association has approved a 72-hour football early signing period beginning Dec. 20. pic.twitter.com/m8AzLf8crN
— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) May 8, 2017
Because this will come during the holiday season, we can already envision recruiting announcements made with props like stockings and presents, or perhaps a video of a dreidel that stops spinning to reveal the college of choice. The possibilities are endless.
The idea of an early signing period in college football has been discussed to various lengths over the years, and now it is finally happening. High school seniors who are comfortable with their decisions will be able to put their recruiting process behind them before the end of the year, thus staying out of the last minute madness that comes in January leading up to the more traditional signing day in February.
And that is important to keep in mind. This new change may not have as deep an impact in the recruiting calendar as some fear. The players most likely to take advantage of this early signing period are far more likely to be the players who have made up their minds on their college choices well in advance, in junior or even sophomore years of high school. Players who dream of playing for one school and are fortunate to have an offer from that school are best suited for the early signing day. Their minds have been made up for a while, and at that stage in the recruiting process, there is going to be almost nothing that can change their mind. Those are the kids who can get this out of the way with an early signing period.
There will still be a ton of high-profile recruits who continue with the recruiting game in the month of January. Five-star and four-star players with 30+ offers who enjoy being catered to on the recruiting trail would be silly to lock down their commitment in December. January is the month coaches make their final sales pitches, wooing players and their egos as much as possible. Some kids like that. Those who don’t will have December.
As with most things, this comes with a good list of pros and cons. For the players, it is an opportunity to put the headaches and pressures of making a choice behind them. On the flip side, it could also lead to more pressure from outside sources to commit early. That pressure could come from a family wanting to see their child secure a scholarship as soon as possible, or it could come from coaches trying to suggest the scholarship may not be available at a later date as the class fills up.
Coaches should also have mixed opinions on this. If the goal is to avoid getting into any murky waters in recruiting, this will be far from a solution. Dirty recruiting tactics will be just as dirty in December as they will be in January and February. But time commitment should be a concern, especially at a time of the year when a number of coaches will be focusing on a bowl game or a College Football Playoff game, or perhaps even be AT a bowl game. Then again, being involved in the postseason is a nice recruiting tool in the tool box as well if you sell it right. But coaches like their routines, and making late recruiting pitches in December may be a necessary evil.
The early signing period is a nice option to have, but that’s all it is. Nobody will be forced to sign between December 20 and 22. As with anything having to do with recruiting, you need to do all the homework you possibly can, and the final due date is still in February. You don’t get extra credit for signing early, but you do lock in your spot in the recruiting class before a program has to start turning commitments away or grayshirting players.
For now, all we have are suspicions on how this will play out. The Class of 2018 is the first litmus test for how effective and necessary it is. We’ll learn some things in this recruiting cycle, and perhaps learn some more next year if the policy stays in place. But for now, it’s a guessing game, just like recruiting itself.
