Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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hoping that by making an early decision the full-court press from coaches, media and fans with highly questionable bound- ary issues will die down. Yet, the pressure only grows stronger. It's time to provide a release valve with an early signing period. "Those young men are 17 years old, 18 Many of those players are like Martini, `coach lost his job that year? And what if all we're doing with an early signing day is bumping up the whole recruiting process by a couple of months and putting the same pressure on a younger group of kids? Well, the recruiting process is creeping years old, and they're getting bombarded with professional recruitment for months on end," Irish head coach Brian Kelly said on National Signing Day in 2011. "I think the early signing period allows that to end at a period where the young man can make a decision and go. That's why I'm in favor of it." Football Bowl Subdivision coaches said they were in favor of a plan to allow recruits to sign a letter of intent during a one-week period in December. Players would get six weeks of their lives back, and coaches could focus on recruits that were still on the fence rather than trying to make sure their com- mitted players weren't swayed elsewhere. The Conference Commissioners Associa- Kelly isn't alone. In 2009, 73 percent of tion, the body that governs these decisions, smartly shot down that plan. The Decem- ber signing period would force assistant coaches to carry a heavy recruiting burden when they should be finishing their regular season and preparing for bowl games. It doesn't provide a very significant break for recruits either. The NCAA sports that have an early sign- ing period — only five, including football — don't hold it before their regular sea- son gets rolling. That would mean August for football, which scared many people away in the past for being too early. What if a player changes his mind? What if the earlier and earlier regardless of when the prospects are allowed to put their plans in ink. Martini can tell you that. If a coach loses his job, most schools are happy to release recruits from their letter of intent. And the overwhelming majority of players that make oral commitments stick to them. Those that don't are more likely per- suaded by the trial lawyer/used car sales- men breed of "professional recruiters" Kelly referred to than by their actual convictions. If most of the country's top talent is ready to make their college choice by the time they start their senior year of high school, why not let them get it out of the way in August? When the first national letters of intent were signed during the early 1980s, players weren't allowed to sign until May. As the re- cruiting process became more fine-tuned the date slid backward to the beginning of Feb- ruary. In the coming year the NCAA plans to rethink its currently confusing schedule and list of rules that govern when and how coaches are allowed to recruit, which would eliminate the last real obstacles to setting up an early signing day for football. The recruiting calendar has clearly shifted again in recent years, and it's time for the commissioners to adjust. ✦ Dan Murphy has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2011. He can be reached at dmurphy@blueandgold.com AUGUST 2012 10