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ESPN: 10 Ways to Improve College Football Recruiting

I've always thought that a limited early signing period would help bring some honesty into the situation and help competitive balance.

Let each school sign up to 5 kids.

One thing this would do is put some clarity into how important a staff considers a kid. The normal for a lot of staffs is to tell 35 kids that they are "our number one target and most important recruit. Son we gonna build our whole offense (defense) around you.

It would be interesting to see the reactions of some of the highly ranked kids when the school that's been telling them all the sweet nothings then tells them that "sorry but we are going to have to wait until the regular LOI day for you, we have 5 other kids that we don't want to lose (including one at your position.)"
 
Here's a fantastic write-up on a lot of the questions people would have about an early signing period. Solidly work. Mitch Sherman's got a good grasp of the pros, cons, whys and whatfors.

Interesting that Stanford leads the opposition. I hadn't considered what a disadvantage it would put them under with their admission requirements making it nearly impossible to enter a LOI agreement with a high school junior.

But are they blowing smoke? Stanford manages to sign basketball recruits before they have completed the first semester of their senior year. How come they have to wait until that semester's over to know if a football player can sign a LOI?

One thing it does point to, though, is that an early period would likely be dominated by prospects with very good academics signing then. I think that's a good thing if those kids are given a leg up in the recruiting process.

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/95424/early-signing-period-faq
 
The early signing period and early OV's make too much sense for everyone involved. I disagree with Luginbill that it would further divide the haves and have nots, though. I think that places a greater emphasis on personal evaluations, and the bigger schools can't sit back and slow play the mid-tier recruits, then poach them at the deadline. It also give schools like CU, who don't sit in talent-rich areas, the opportunity to get kids on campus early.

From the kids perspective, I have to think a number of them just want to have the process over with and a guaranteed scholarship. The early OV's also helps to even the playing field for the kids who can't afford to visit a dozen out of state schools over the summer.

I really don't see much downside to it at all.
 
The early signing period and early OV's make too much sense for everyone involved. I disagree with Luginbill that it would further divide the haves and have nots, though. I think that places a greater emphasis on personal evaluations, and the bigger schools can't sit back and slow play the mid-tier recruits, then poach them at the deadline. It also give schools like CU, who don't sit in talent-rich areas, the opportunity to get kids on campus early.

From the kids perspective, I have to think a number of them just want to have the process over with and a guaranteed scholarship. The early OV's also helps to even the playing field for the kids who can't afford to visit a dozen out of state schools over the summer.

I really don't see much downside to it at all.

I hope for the early signing period. Makes it so much more likely that the UTs of the world will make mistakes based on evaluations of juniors in high school while other programs get less competition for guys who actually get evaluated as seniors.

One thing that Hawkins and Embree had right is that a lot of talent can be found and secured with senior evaluations followed by December and January OVs.
 
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