Blue White Illustrated

A long-simmering debate in the world of football recruiting heated up recently when Susan Peal, the NCAA's associate director of opera- tions, said that the organization is con- sidering whether to adopt an early- signing period. The proposal would bring football in line with several other high-profile sports. Both basketball and baseball have a one-week window in November in which committed prospects are able to sign letters of intent. By doing so, the signees can put an end to all the nagging calls from coaches and reporters and thus are better able to enjoy the remain- der of their time in high school. Coaches have been weighing in on the idea, including Penn State's James Franklin, who recently expressed condi- tional support. "I'd be for it, but I'd be for it under the right circumstances," Franklin said. "What I mean by that is, you only want an early-signing period for the kid who is going to a school no matter what and has always wanted to go to that school. So it's the kid who grew up wanting to go to Penn State [and] is not going any- where else. You might as well get that kid locked up. Let him go back to being a normal high school student and enjoy- ing his high school career, and now we're not babysitting him, as well. My point is [to focus on] the kid who [isn't] going to waver and won't go on any offi- cial visits. The only official visit he'll go on is to that specific school and is com- fortable with those types of things. "To me, that's what it's meant to do." I used to have mixed feelings about whether an early-signing period would benefit high school prospects. Then, two years ago, I watched Christian Hacken- berg endure constant calls from the me- dia second-guessing his decision, even though he never wavered in his commit- ment to Penn State. With programs such as Alabama making a push following the imposition of harsh sanctions against the Nittany Lions, hardly anyone in the national media believed that he would actually follow through with his plans to sign with the school. And because there was so much skepticism, he was forced to do countless interviews about other schools. If he'd had the option of signing a letter of intent before his senior sea- son, Hackenberg would have been spared a lot of distraction. Allowing prospects to sign earlier would definitely accelerate the recruit- ing process to some degree, prompting coaches to go after players at a younger age. But anyone who really follows re- cruiting knows that this trend is already under way. Let's be real. Some prospects are making commitments before they're even in high school these days, so I'm not buying the notion that this would hurt them. If I were in charge of the process, I would institute a one-week early-sign- ing period in August, maybe the week before the start of high school preseason practice. I would include an escape clause that would allow prospects to re- scind their letter of intent if the coach- ing staff is fired or goes elsewhere, thus assuring them that they won't be thrown into situations they're not com- fortable with. I would also bump the current signing day back a few weeks. That would give prospects more time to make official visits without impacting schools' spring practice plans. As a reporter, I see firsthand how much contact these young men have with both coaches and media. There are four major recruiting sites, plus local newspapers and television stations. The number of text messages and calls that prospects receive is absolutely absurd, and it's growing year after year. An ear- ly-signing period would have a positive impact in this area, as prospects such as Hackenberg wouldn't have to deal with reporters blowing up their phones day in and day out. I believe that's actually the most annoying aspect of the process, not the conversations with coaches. This is an excellent opportunity for the NCAA to get something right, as the executives in Indianapolis are fully aware of how crazy recruiting and its coverage has become in recent years. The ball is in their court. They need to make the right move this summer. An early-signing period in football is long overdue. ■ An early-signing period would bring prospects some relief

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