Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 MARCH 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED G ive credit to the calming influence of Notre Dame head coach Mar- cus Freeman. Or give kudos to the commitment and talent of the Fighting Irish support staff. Or maybe it's some combination of the two. But as the busy December football calendar swirled at the same time Notre Dame was marching to the national championship game, Freeman and Co. didn't miss a beat with their playoff game prep, transfer portal reloads and top-rung high school recruiting. It was an impressive balancing act completed under a challenging, unnec- essary and, frankly, a foolish timeline. As it stands now, the chaotic December football calendar overlaps the three key ingredients to program development and maintenance: the early signing period for high school senior recruits, transfer portal management and postseason game prep. All of this while the student-athletes are taking fall-semester final exams. "The calendar is really challenging," said Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, echoing the sentiment of every football coach in the country. "When you inter- twine all the working parts of academics and being a student-athlete, and the timing of the playoff, timing of the por- tal, timing of signing day, it's incredibly challenging. And it's not probably the best thing for the college football game." At least to this point, any calendar complaints to the NCAA have fallen on deaf ears. But there are some relatively easy, common-sense solutions that deserve consideration to devise a more manageable football calendar. SHUFFLE THE SCHEDULE Let's start with high school recruit- ing. The early December signing period for prep players made sense when it was adopted in December 2017. High school stars could end their recruitments before the fall academic semester ended, take some time to con- sider early January enrollment at their college of choice, and end the incessant calls from rival coaches making their last-minute poaching pitch. The prob- lem is the early signing period was in- stalled a year before the winter transfer portal window was added to the De- cember football calendar. And these two team-building events don't mesh well. One simple fix to help alleviate the December calendar crush is to make the early signing day for prep players even earlier, and move it back from December to July or early August, before the players' senior high school seasons even begin. This would allow college programs to know exactly where they stand with their incoming high school class, and in turn, it would provide coaches a clearer road map to then fill their transfer portal needs. The traditional February signing day for prep players could remain for last- minute decision makers or late bloomers. Couple an early signing day calen- dar shift with the full elimination of the poorly timed December transfer portal window (more on that to come), and the senseless football calendar would im- mediately find a missing rhythm. DITCH SPRING BALL This idea, at least at first glance, may not seem popular for many fans. But it would greatly benefit all parties involved. Many college coaches believe that the best way to get the nonsensical football calendar under control is to adopt the NFL's schedule and approach, and that starts with ending the college spring football season as we know it. Instead of holding a traditional spring season in March/April, shift those work- outs to May/June, after the spring semes- ter ends and when summer school begins. This tweak would allow players want- ing to transfer to make their relocation decisions in a more deliberate manner than in December, when many teams — Notre Dame included — haven't even finished their seasons yet. It would also provide college coaches time late in the spring semester to manage and fortify their rosters with a clearer course and fewer distractions. This plan would lump all transfer decisions for student-athletes into the spring academic semester. That would provide ample time for incoming trans- fers and high school players to enroll for summer school to start organized team activities (OTAs) and mini-camp work- outs at their new school in June, similar to how the NFL operates. This plan would work within a tra- ditional academic calendar that keeps players on a regular school schedule, and allows them to transfer and relocate in a more orderly fashion after the spring semester and before summer school. In a nutshell, move the early high school signing period from early Decem- ber to July or August, move the transfer portal window to April or early May only and permanently close the December window and move spring workouts from March/April to May/June. These are just a few simple solutions that would help alleviate the December calendar crush. There's no debate that coaches around the country need and deserve schedule changes to bring some sanity and clarity to the NCAA football calendar. That's obvious. The hard part is getting the slow- moving NCAA to finally hear their members and make some calendar ad- justments for the betterment of the game, its players and its coaches. ✦ Moving the traditional spring practice schedule from March/April to May/June would allow for potential transfers to make their decisions in a more deliberate manner and provide coaches with an opportunity to manage their rosters with fewer distractions. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com. UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Putting Common Sense Into A Calendar Mess