Does football need an early signing period, as there is with basketball?
A. Absolutely. I was on the fence for a long time but no longer. There are just too many early commitments. I looked into this last summer. Commitments to BCS schools by June 1 of 2007 compared to June 1 of 2002 were up 500 percent. It’s amazing how this has happened. Here’s the problem: When do you have an early signing period? I know there is talk about one potentially sometime in December. I think that’s a start, but how much does that really help out these prospects, their families and the schools? You are just eight to 10 weeks away from National Signing Day. To me, the best time to have an additional signing period would be the last Wednesday in July or the first Wednesday in August, right before two-a-days start at both the high school and college level. But for this to happen, the recruiting calendar would have to be changed. There would have to be a set time in the summer where prospects would have the opportunity to make some official visits. Remember, recruiting is still abo
