Fred's Recruiting Rant II: Coaches Want TWO of These Things?

College football coaches are in favor of an early National Signing Day, like their basketball counterparts, in addition to today's bonanza.

"Really in May and June and July people are committing so you don't have to do all that traveling in December if you have them already signed in December," said Buffalo coach Turner Gill to the Associated Press. "And in January, you don't have to go and so-called baby-sit."

You see the coaches want an early signing date - mid-December is one idea while others favor one during the summer - to protect coaches from themselves.

Football coaches don't like to take no for an answer and will keep hounding these high school students until it becomes pointless. The players do contribute to the process by making verbal commitments to schools, but continue to take visits to other universities.

And they frequently change their minds.

We've also added to the mania of this day like in this example from the website Wizard of Odds which has video showing how a high school student was allowed to hijack about five minutes of a Dallas TV newscast to flip hats of the finalists for his services away before settling on his choice of Oklahoma State.

"I think it would be great," says Texas coach Mack Brown to AP, "especially for the ones that are coming in January because they could have a special day instead of missing their signing day because they're already enrolled in school."

That's for the growing number - at a disturbing rate in my view - of players who skip their last semester of high school to be on campus, ready to compete in spring practice instead of going to the senior prom.

Of course if a player did sign early, what happens if his new head coach gets fired or takes another job?

Or what happens if the assistant coach that's he's talked to for a couple of years gets canned by the school or gets hired someplace else?

He's stuck at that school, unless he gets let out of his Letter of Intent. Superstar prospects may be able to field any number of new options, but many will see spots at their other top choices will be in the hands of other high schoolers.

And the recruiting "pressure" will simply move from the holidays and January into the heart of their senior football seasons. Early signing periods are good for coaches and bad for players.

Conference commissioners recently rejected the coaches proposal for a second, earlier signing day. Good for them!