Early signing day for football...

[coachcap]

Was listening to Sirius Radio on the way home at 6 P.M. Evidently, at the SEC meetings Mike Slive is advocating for an early signing day to be held on Black Friday in addition to the regular 1st Wednesday in
February. Good or bad for UConn?

 

[WestHartHusk]

Was listening to Sirius Radio on the way home at 6 P.M. Evidently, at the SEC meetings Mike Slive is advocating for an early signing day to be held on Black Friday in addition to the regular 1st Wednesday in
February. Good or bad for UConn?

Bad for students. They want kids to commit right before the coaching silly season?

I promise the boneyard, if I ever meet Swofford, Slive, Delaney or Scott I will punch them right in the throat. They are doing everything in their power to enrich themselves and a handful of schools at the expense of students, fans and other universities.

 

[Drew]

It should be before their senior years start in mid August for those kids who don't want to have to deal with the mess or have already committed before their seasons start and don't want to risk injury and a revocation of the scholarship offer. You can sign August 10,11,12 or wait until the first Wednesday in February. Boom.

 

[Jerry27]

Agreed, if they want to do it for the students it would be in August before the school year starts and the late one would be before the spring semester starts, but they aren't going to do that because then they won't have room for the kids that blow up their SR year and they may find the guys who did commit in August didn't sustain the success they had in their JR year.

 

[tduconn]

On the surface, August seems to be an option for the students as they can concentrate on their HS athletics AND academics without too many distractions. However, I don't see institutions committing to this without a "escape clause" should an athlete break any bones, damage any joints, strain any ligaments/muscles, etc.

Also, an athlete with promising stats throught the junior year may "play it safe" in his senior campaign for fear of injury, and/or his impressive credentials may take a nose dive. There will be an "escape clause" or nothing for the schools,........as well as the athlete if they were more committed to playing for a certain coach(es) who themselves may leave an institution voluntarily or involuntarily after a Fall campaign.

 

[Jerry27]

On the surface, August seems to be an option for the students as they can concentrate on their HS athletics AND academics without too many distractions. However, I don't see institutions committing to this without a "escape clause" should an athlete break any bones, damage any joints, strain any ligaments/muscles, etc.

Also, an athlete with promising stats throught the junior year may "play it safe" in his senior campaign for fear of injury, and/or his impressive credentials may take a nose dive. There will be an "escape clause" or nothing for the schools,...as well as the athlete if they were more committed to playing for a certain coach(es) who themselves may leave an institution voluntarily or involuntarily after a Fall campaign.

Right, they can't have their cake and eat to for everything, although I agree they will absolutely try to do just that. And I also agree that those risks are there for missed recruits as I said and kids skating their SR year will be there but I don't think it will affect the big boys much. You have to figure if they are taking 20-25 top end kids they all won't be busts which is exactly what's happening now. Personally, I wouldn't mind some programs going through a talent drought so others can take an uptick.

 

[Carl Spackler]

An early signing day basically erases the purpose that the national letter of intent was created for. Creating an early signing day, to me makes the NLI basically meaningless. It's just another step, as others have noted, for a conference like the SEC to separate itself from the rest of the college football world.

It's awful to think and actually write, but I can't wait for some of these commissioners get old, cuckoo and die. They are killing the sport.

 

[Husky25]

So the kid is supposed to be preparing for the biggest game of their High School season vs. their most traditional rival on Thanksgiving Morning, and not be distracted about who they will spend the next 4 years of their life with the following day?

From this point forward, college football fans must assume that anything out of these conference commissioners' mouths vis a vie Conference realignment or schedule adjustments is only said with their own best interest in mind.

That said, this is only good for the SEC and runs counter to the interests of the Group of 5 Conferences and certainly to that of the student-athletes.

 

[Carl Spackler]

So the kid is supposed to be preparing for the biggest game of their High School season vs. their most traditional rival on Thanksgiving Morning, and not be distracted about who they will spend the next 4 years of their life with the following day?

From this point forward, college football fans must assume that anything out of these conference commissioners' mouths vis a vie Conference realignment or schedule adjustments is only said with their own best interest in mind.

That said, this is only good for the SEC and runs counter to the interests of the Group of 5 Conferences and certainly to that of the student-athletes.

The question I have in mind, moving forward is whether or not there are more fans of the group of 5, than there are of the all of the other programs across the country not named Notre Dame. BYU, I hope, will start to lead the charge here, as they have more than enough following to actually create change. The military academies, where college football, actually does remain what it's supposed to be, should also be part of a charge.

There is a big difference between simply making a lot more money than others, when it's deserved, in a competitive marketplace - versus what these conference commissioners, and their constituent university presidents are trying to do.

 

[Drew]

So the kid is supposed to be preparing for the biggest game of their High School season vs. their most traditional rival on Thanksgiving Morning, and not be distracted about who they will spend the next 4 years of their life with the following day?

From this point forward, college football fans must assume that anything out of these conference commissioners' mouths vis a vie Conference realignment or schedule adjustments is only said with their own best interest in mind.

That said, this is only good for the SEC and runs counter to the interests of the Group of 5 Conferences and certainly to that of the student-athletes.

Actually I think this benefits northern schools (B1G, us, UMass, etc) but only if the early signing day comes with the expected adjustment to the dates someone is allowed to take an official visit. It's tough for the B1G and even some of the PAC schools to get kids to play a Friday night game, get on a plane the next morning at 6 am, connect, arrive at their 11 am local time game, meet with coaches, meet players, etc, then turn around and leave the next day. If this signing day in august allows for official visits for rising seniors during the summer when they're not in school and not playing, the B1G and northern schools would benefit greatly. I can't tell you how many kids Nebraska gets commitments from who end up at Texas, LSU, etc once the season starts. Frustrating.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Actually I think this benefits northern schools (B1G, us, UMass, etc) but only if the early signing day comes with the expected adjustment to the dates someone is allowed to take an official visit. It's tough for the B1G and even some of the PAC schools to get kids to play a Friday night game, get on a plane the next morning at 6 am, connect, arrive at their 11 am local time game, meet with coaches, meet players, etc, then turn around and leave the next day. If this signing day in august allows for official visits for rising seniors during the summer when they're not in school and not playing, the B1G and northern schools would benefit greatly. I can't tell you how many kids Nebraska gets commitments from who end up at Texas, LSU, etc once the season starts. Frustrating.

You're losing track of what singing a letter of intent is supposed to be about. Signing a recognized national letter of intent, effectively ends an athletes recruiting by multiple institutions. That's what "signing" is all about - ENDING recruiting. There are no more official visits anywhere except the school contracted after a letter signed. Changing the dates of signing, unless the entire country agrees, simply creates an un-level recruiting advantage.

edit: having 2 signing days for NLI's in a single calendar year defeats the entire purpose that signing a letter of intent was created for.

 

[Palatine]

This is very very good for UConn.

An early signing period means that big schools can NOT poach verbal commits in the last week of January.

It also means you don't need to keep recruiting kids that commit early.

It's bad for Alabama but good for UConn.

 

[tower1]

This is very very good for UConn.

An early signing period means that big schools can NOT poach verbal commits in the last week of January.

It also means you don't need to keep recruiting kids that commit early.

It's bad for Alabama but good for UConn.

I totally agree with you. Helps Uconn.

 

[uconnbill]

This was one thing FHCRE was calling for in 2004/2005. It helps schools like UCONN from having the Notre Dame's of the world come in a take your commitments.

 

[Jimdish255]

So the kid is supposed to be preparing for the biggest game of their High School season vs. their most traditional rival on Thanksgiving Morning, and not be distracted about who they will spend the next 4 years of their life with the following day?

From this point forward, college football fans must assume that anything out of these conference commissioners' mouths vis a vie Conference realignment or schedule adjustments is only said with their own best interest in mind.

That said, this is only good for the SEC and runs counter to the interests of the Group of 5 Conferences and certainly to that of the student-athletes.

I've said it before it's only a question of time before they start going after each other in this new arrangement. The long-term threat to the P5 could be the P5. At least the NCAA kept a tenuous lid on some of these egos. But I do like the early signing if it can settle down some of the last week chaos for so many students and teams.