Coaches Warm to Early Signing Period at D-FW Football Forum

[MrMustang1965]

IRVING – With recruiting becoming a major headache, more college football coaches are embracing the idea of an early signing period where players could sign a national letter of intent long before February.

There are still major kinks to be ironed out.

Would the early signing date come during the summer before a player's high school senior season? Or would it be in mid-December? Could a school sign all of its oral commitments early? Or would the number be capped?

"I think there are some parameters that do need to be set up and a little bit more research involved, but I think we're headed that way," Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. "And it's something that I do favor."

Mangino was one of several high-profile members attending a football forum organized by the National Football Foundation. The panel, which included TCU coach Gary Patterson, Ohio State's Jim Tressel and Washington's Tyrone Willingham, convened Thursday at the Grand Hyatt at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Issues regarding graduation rates, academic progress, media access, player conduct and coaching salaries were addressed. The forum concludes today.

Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, said a recent survey found about 70 percent of coaches favored an early signing date.

If players could sign early, then coaches would have more time to develop a better relationship with recruits, Army athletic director Kevin Anderson said.

It's still unclear how fast an early signing period could be implemented and whether it would require NCAA legislative changes.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... f5e1d.html

[friarwolf]

How many college coaches get fired each year????? Unless you put in some kind of automatic opt-out clause for the kids if the coach gets canned, you will have a mess on your hands...................

[Stallion]

It works fine in Basketball. Its ridiculous that Coaches have to babysit recruits for 10 months after they commit.

[friarwolf]

In basketball, you have 3-5 kids per year, in football, you typically have over 20 kids............