GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The announcement in mid-April shifted the spotlight back on college football at a time when the sport historically has moved to the back burner behind coverage of the NFL Draft, NBA playoffs and start of the Major League Baseball season.
A series of legislative reform changes approved by the NCAA Division I Council – most notably the addition of an early signing date in December – sent ripples across campuses and social media.
The possibility of an early signing date loomed for years and was on the table for 15 months. The American Football Coaches Association voted at its annual meeting in January 2016 to support the reform package, which also includes the addition of a 10th assistant coach for FBS programs, changes to the summer-camp model, a shift in the recruiting calendar and adjustments to when schools can open preseason camp.
The headliner, though, was the early signing date, which allows players to sign with a school in December rather than wait until National Signing Day the first week of February.
Gators head coach
Jim McElwain supports the December signing date primarily for the benefit of the players.
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"The early signing piece, especially now that you see so many guys finish their high school early, it gives them a day that they can sign and celebrate,'' said McElwain, who since taking over the Gators has held a private signing day ceremony for the program's midyear enrollees. "Here's the thing, give us the parameters and we'll work under them."
In McElwain's first two full recruiting cycles at UF in 2016 and '17, the Gators added 17 midyear enrollees, including a school-record 12 in 2016. Still, he expects the early signing period to cause turbulence as both sides (recruits and recruiters) adjust to the changing landscape.
"I think this first couple of years you are going to see this big explosion, but I really think long-term, buyer's remorse on each side,'' he said. "Some of these so-called reservations that these guys are taking, let's see how committed you are to showing up. And vice versa.
"All these scholarship offers these schools have out, and this guy says he is ready in December to sign it, and you go, 'whoa, maybe we'll go in February.' Well, how committed are you? I'll be interested to see the dynamics of that piece, and yet we'll sign our guys in December and sign the ones in February."
The addition of an early signing date falls under the review of the Collegiate Commissioners Association, which meets in June. The CCA is the
organization that provides governance oversight of the National Letter of Intent program.
Meanwhile, McElwain said the ability to hire an additional coach starting Jan. 9, 2018, is another important measure, one needed to help coaching staffs better connect and build relationships with their players. With 85 scholarship players and 20 walk-ons, that's a lot of players to manage.
"Our responsibility is to help these guys be successful, right,'' he said. "Here's the thing: public education is running into it right now. What about class size? Let's just talk in terms of class size. How much impact do you have in small class compared to a classroom of 32 people? I look at it that way. I think it's long overdue."
As for the immediate impact once the change becomes effective, McElwain expects more movement than usual during the coaching carousel early next year. Moreover, it will come as programs work to finalize recruiting classes in the final four weeks leading to National Signing Day.
That could impact schools that lose key recruiting personnel during the height of the recruiting season.
"We were prepared if it would have happened immediately,'' he said. "But I don't know when a good time is."
Other notable changes:
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Recruits can take earlier official visits to schools beginning April 1 of their junior year of high school. Previously, schools had to wait until September of the recruit's senior year to provide all-expenses paid visits to campus.
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Restrictions on the hiring of coaches or others associated with recruits for a two-year period before or after, a rule that mirrors legislation already in place for college basketball. The rule would affect the hiring of high school coaches on college football staffs.
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FBS coaches will be allowed to hold on-campus camps during a 10-day period in June and July, which is to thwart the practice of "satellite camps," a trend that drew so much attention in the summer of 2016.
A piece of new legislation that McElwain has mixed feelings about concerns the earlier start date for fall camp and the elimination of two-a-day contact practices.
He said full-contact two-a-day practices have largely been abandoned for a while by most programs. On those days that include multiple practices, he said one is used for contact and one mostly for system installation.
"With the elimination of two-a-days and the health-and-welfare piece, which I totally get and am totally supportive, and yet they just lengthened the period of time you can get in 29 practices,'' he said. "Now you're going to require them to be back in the third week of July instead of the first week of August, for example. What are we doing here?"
Bob Bowlsby, Big 12 Commissioner and chair of the Football Oversight Committee, said in a released statement that the legislative reform is a significant step in the right direction for college football recruiting.
"The entire package of rule changes is friendly for students, their families and their coaches,'' Bowlsby said. "We will continue to monitor the recruiting environment to make sure the rules work as intended, and we will suggest adjustments when necessary."
Everyone knows the one that will receive the most attention: the early signing period.
With National Signing Day already an event unlike any other in American sports, what does McElwain envision it looking like in the future?
"I think now it becomes two circus events,'' he said. "It's going to give people something to talk about now from the middle of December to the first of February. You just went from a one-ring circus to a two-ring circus. This is going to be a great time for everybody."
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