With the announcements yesterday that Georgia received three verbal commitments for its 2009 class, this USA Today article on an early signing period for D-1 football is pretty timely.
The recruiting factoid of the day:
… According to Rob Ianello, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Notre Dame, more than 1,500 high school players had committed to 117 schools in time for an early signing period in December.
“The process is to the point right now where kids have decided where they want to go to school,” says Ianello, the assistant coaches’ representative to the AFCA board of trustees. “The average was about 13.2 per school, which is over half your class…”
What I don’t get is why these assistant coaches are advocating for the extra date in mid-December. Or, more accurately, what I don’t get is why these assistant coaches think a date in mid-December brings much to the table from the standpoint of the recruits and their high schools.
“For me, it would be a hassle,” says Sean Callahan of Armwood High in Seffner, Fla., whose USA TODAY All-USA offensive lineman Matt Patchan has committed to Florida. “I’m hopefully playing football in mid-December. If you said second or first week in January, that would be fine. Our … kids usually wait until January to make up their mind.”
I’m being facetious, of course. Here’s the money quote:
“There’s also a strong academic component here,” Ianello says of his football proposal. “If a young man knows where he’s going, he doesn’t have to worry about getting chased around and hassled in January, and he can concentrate on school. There’s a cost-saving measure, because you have some players you don’t have to go down and see in January. And you eliminate some of this commit-decommit stuff that goes on in January.”
My guess is the last two sentences are of far greater import to Ianello than is the first.
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UPDATE: ESPN’s Bruce Feldman thinks ($$) an early signing date is a bad idea.
Get The Picture 
It’s a bad idea for the sole reason that a coach could be fired or quit and leave his recruit in the dust.
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Color me flabbergasted that a Notre Dame assistant wants kids to be locked up before New Year’s Day. Coach Ianello, Chris Little and Omar Hunter say hi!
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C’mon, MD. You know how rough January can be on a senior in high school.
Notre Dame is all about the kids. Just ask Tom Lemming. 😉
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