Recruits like early signing period
Decisions made during December add pressure to new college coaches
During the past few weeks, college football coaches across the country have tried to manage the delicate balance between the past and the future.
The first Wednesday in February is National Signing Day and it typically has been the marquee date on the recruiting calendar, but that’s changed. Numerous high school recruits are expected to sign their letters of intent Wednesday during the start of the early signing period.
“I think more and more the kids are signing in December,” CBS Sports Network national analyst Tom Lemming said of the recruiting calendar change, which began in 2017. “That’s the difference between two years ago when it started and now; the college coaches are not taken by surprise. Now college coaches are aware that most of the top guys will make their decision by Dec. 18, so a lot of these guys are out there recruiting juniors already much more than they did in the past.”
“This group of kids has really adopted the early signing period as signing day,” added Adam Gorney, a national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com and Yahoo.com.
As of Saturday, 43 of the top 50 prospects in the 2020 recruiting class already had committed to a school, and most analysts believe many of those will sign Wednesday.
“I don’t think things have been nearly as crazy or as busy as other years have been leading up to this day,” Gorney said. “A lot of kids who are committed stayed committed, and the recruitment happens so early and they’ve taken visits so early, they know what they want to do.”
That’s not to say there won’t be the typical drama associated with signing day as some recruits are sure to have a last-minute change of heart and flip their commitment. But it won’t resemble the
movement formerly seen during the traditional National Signing Day in February.
Instead of coaches working hard to get recruits to flip their commitments, many of them already have turned their attention to the 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes.
As great as it is for some, the early signing period doesn’t provide much of an opportunity for new coaching hires to make an impression on a recruiting class. Most have only had a few days to reach out to recruits to try to salvage a decent class.
“It’s going to be very difficult. I’m going to tell you right now, we have literally, counting today, eight school days left,” new Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said during his introductory press conference on Dec. 4. “So when we’re done, we’re going to do some things here and then I’m heading out to see some players and we’ve just got to do that.”
There were 17 coaching changes since Sept. 29, with 14 of those occurring on or after Nov. 25. Seven of those openings occurred at Power 5 schools.
“Once again, more intrigue amongst the new coaches because there’s such a challenge that those guys have to face given the timing of the early signing day and of the firings and hirings,” said Barton Simmons, who is the director of scouting for 247Sports.com.
But which of the new coaches can make the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time?
“I think Mike Norvell at Florida State,” Simmons said. “I found him to be a really strong recruiter at
Memphis in that league, that tier of recruiting. I think with that Florida State logo on his chest, he’s got a chance to make a quick splash.”
Added Gorney, “It’s going to be interesting to see how Lane Kiffin does. We all know the stories of Lane Kiffin and all of those things, but I think he’s going to be able to recruit there and he’s going to make Ole Miss fun.”