Today, in methinks they doth protest too much

Roll ‘Bama Roll picks up on a Rivals piece that coachsplains why the early signing date is anti-doing it for the kids.

“I only think it’s going to really benefit the kids that are 100 percent locked in any way,” an assistant coach from a Top10 program told 247Sports. “I don’t think the other kids are going to sign.”

Which means the early signing date puts pressure on kids.

Gosh, that would be a shame, as the current process is clearly pressure-free.  Maybe they should move national signing day back to the day before spring practice starts.

The funny thing is that all the complaining we’re hearing about the December period is coming from the coaching side, none from recruits.  Why would that be, daddy?

If the argument is really about the benefit of students, then it’s nonsensical: little has been changed except a chance for kids to wrap up the recruiting circus earlier. There is no requirement that they sign in December; couching the early period as an artificial deadline imposed upon students is a red herring. If anything, an early signing period should signal whether or not the roster is even favorable at Dream School Y, should a pipe dream offer be available. And, that dream offer is more often than not going to be available in six weeks if the player has earned it and can compete for it.

Having a better idea about the likelihood of a pipe dream becoming reality in a more favorable time frame sounds awful.  For coaches, I mean.

Unspoken here for opponents of the December period is that an early signing day shifts the burden of risk onto coaching staffs, instead of upon students. It requires an earlier identification of talent, an accelerated judgment as to whether a player can compete at a certain school, whether that student posses the character, whether the student is an academic risks, and then requires cultivating a relationship strong enough to close the deal earlier: No one wants to pass on a player who then goes to a rival or midmajor and then shines. A notoriously risk-averse profession, and the loss of poaching opportunities, is really what the sparse opposition has been about — don’t lose sight of that.

I’d say that’s a damned shame, except all that’s going to happen is coaches like Saban and Meyer will just hire a few more analysts for their personnel departments.  Earlier identification problem solved!

Advertisement