Signing day isn’t what it used to be

that early signing period in December changed the game. By his count, about 72 percent of the players who will sign with FBS schools this offseason already did so more than a month ago. That leaves somewhere between 700 and 800 who will do so Wednesday, and half of those are already verbally committed, taking much of the suspense out of what was once an oasis of college football talk in the dead of winter.

The new approach for many head coaches is to look for a “best player available,” almost like the end of a draft, given that most of the need-based additions were made months in advance. That’s a concept that could make Wednesday a little more exciting for, say, Alabama — a finalist for seven of ESPN’s top 100 players yet to pick a school — than most others.

“You’re looking at maybe fulfilling one need, or instead of filling a second need, saying, ‘This is the best player out there. Why don’t we try to go get him?’ “Luginbill said. “By the way, that best player might be the No. 1 player and most significant need player on the board for 10 of your competitors, so they’re looking at that player differently than you are.”

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi mentioned “best available” back when he discussed the bulk of his class in December, and it seems that his potential finishing touches will follow that plan. The Panthers have three verbal commitments going into signing day, and are waiting on two more targets, four-star Washington D.C. running back Mychale Salahuddin and three-star Florida defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado, two positions where Pitt is well-stocked now and down the road.

Both are expected to announce before noon, and both saw Pitt’s involvement increase in a major way since the early period. For Baldonado, who’s down to Pitt, Michigan State and Central Florida, but only came up on most schools’ radars in the past couple of months, it’s been a whirlwind finish to the recruiting process.

“If you have options like he has, you want to make sure that it checks all the boxes, that it’s not an emotional decision but rather an analytical approach to it,” said Jesse Chinchar, his coach at Clearwater Academy International. “’OK, this school fits me as far as an education goes, first and foremost. And is this the type of football team I can see myself playing for? Are they gonna use me the right way?’”

Those are the questions Chinchar would tell his players to ask, anyway but it becomes even more important when the programs courting them are down to only a few prospects left on their wish list. As Chinchar put it, “You don’t wanna go somewhere just because they had to get an extra defensive end; you don’t wanna go somewhere where you’re kind of like a consolation prize.”

While Pitt is expected to do with high school seniors Erick Hallett and Kaymar Mimes, as well as Kent State graduate transfer Stefano Millin, Penn State can make the longtime commitment of Harrisburg wideout Shaquon Anderson-Butts official, assuming he signs. And like the Panthers, the Nittany Lions also stand to pick up a couple of day-of additions.

For the most part, though, it’s on to 2019.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how this thing unfolds over the next couple of years. ... Everybody has different resources,” Luginbill said. “Not everybody’s the same, so manpower is going to play a big role in all of this if you’re one of those teams that is in the luxury of using that whole ‘best available’ mantra.”