After a tumultuous early signing period and changes to the December 2023 transfer portal, the Collegiate Commissioners Association voted last month to move the college football early signing period from mid-December through the Wednesday before the start of the FBS conference championship games.
With 2024 Conference Championships Scheduled for the weekend of December 6-7, this change would establish the three-day early signing period to begin on December 4 before the transfer portal opens mid-month.
While the CCA, which provides governance over the National Letter of Intent program, has not announced any changes to the traditional February signing period — which begins the first Wednesday in February and runs through April 1 — they have announced a proposal to the addition of a new signing day, one in June. Discussion of a possible signing day in June, however, was postponed until June 2024 by the CCA.
If the proposed June signing day is approved, the current landscape of high school football as we know it could look very different. If an athlete signed their NLIs in June, before the start of their senior year, it could cause a number of problems, including possible reclassifications and withdrawals.
High school football coaches’ reactions to the proposal
Discussion of a possible signing day in June has drawn a lot of attention, most of it not positive. Not long after the proposal was announced, the Alabama Football Coaches Association released a statement strongly against it.
“There is a proposed early June signing period for high school players. This would mean that athletes would sign with colleges before the senior football season. We believe this is not good for high school football as it would lead to a possible reclassification, senior opt-outs and other issues. Therefore, ALFCA stands strongly against this proposal. We hope that the decision makers will honor our concerns as a coaches association and urge other state associations to share their concerns about the signing period. June”, the statement. to read.
The ALFCA isn’t the only one against the proposal, with Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa coach Jamie Mitchell sharing the same sentiment and insisting that signing periods begin after an athlete’s senior season.
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“Obviously I’m going to side with every high school coach who’s ever asked that question,” Mitchell said. “I just don’t see the value. First of all, I’m not sure what they’re trying to achieve by doing this… I just don’t understand the reasoning of making a kid feel like he can make that decision before he even plays his senior year.”
Mitchell compared the potential proposal to an NFL team drafting a college player before beginning his final college season, an argument first raised by Saraland’s Jeff Kelly.
“It’s no different than the NFL signing a college kid before the college season starts,” Mitchell said. “Then that college coach tells the kid he has to play… I certainly hope some smarter minds prevail and keep any signing period past the kid’s senior year.”
It’s not just Mitchell who is against the potential of a June signing day, new Southside-Gadsden coach Ben Stewart, who was an assistant at Oxford and handled college prospects at both stages, is completely against the proposal. , believing it will end up adding more workload to an already large workload for coaches not just in Alabama but across the country and said he believes that is why many state coaches associations have spoken out against the proposal.
“Our job is difficult enough. It’s quite difficult in recruiting people who recruit high school kids,” Stewart said. “There are so many things as high school coaches that we have to deal with that we didn’t have to deal with before and a lot of it is out of our hands. It’s in the hands of people who are above us, especially in this one, the NCAA. They didn’t ask, I don’t know what the benefit of that is, but I think getting these high-level guys to hire early, but to me there’s no benefit for high school coaches.
Alabama football’s Kalen DeBoer and Jacksonville State’s Rich Rodriguez weigh in
College football coaches even voiced their concerns about the proposal. Alabama football’s Kalen DeBoer was asked about the recruiting calendar, which he was on board with, bringing forward the December early signing period, but he went on to consider the possibility of a June signing day “a little too much “.
“I know there are a lot of concerns,” DeBoer said. “I think we’re a pretty unified group here in the SEC trying to just — we’re up to the December date now and we’re okay with moving it. I know there’s a lot of concern in high school. It’s a very valid concern that you might have some guys who aren’t playing and might opt out if they sign. I would like to play.”
DeBoer went on to emphasize the importance of high school athletes playing their final season as it gives college programs a chance to better evaluate players in their final season.
“I just want to be careful not to rush things more than we have,” DeBoer said. “But working and listening to the high school coaches, I think that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to improve the game, make good decisions on behalf of all of us. I think now moving it to June is probably a bit much.”
Another state college coach expressed displeasure not only with the idea of a signing day in June, but also with signing periods in general. Jacksonville State football coach Rich Rodriguez, who has a coaching resume that includes stints at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona, said he believes teams don’t need a signing period but just sign kids until they have 85 in the game. roster, but don’t believe the Gamecocks will be affected by an earlier signing period.
“I follow the theory that there should be no signing day. I think everyone should have a contract, once you get 85 guys signed to that team that year, that’s it, you don’t recruit anymore. I don’t know if it will affect us because you’re trying to recruit guys before you see them play their senior year. It’s harder to evaluate, I want to see them play, come to camp, play their senior year. said Rodriguez.
“A lot of guys are no-brainers, but at our level (Group of 5), they’re developing a little later and I think it’s too early to make a good assessment of prospects, so I’m not in favor of June signing day.”
Rodriguez also advocates for kids to pursue their high school careers and try to compete for a state championship at their schools.
“To be fair to the high school coaches, let them play on the high school team, do everything they can. I see some kids ‘I got my offer, I got my scholarship’, I’m going to sit out, that would be horrible, not play your senior year of high school because you got a scholarship, go win a championship in high school,” he said. Rodriguez.
If the June Signing Day proposal is implemented, it would take effect in June 2025.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: AHSAA football: High school, college coaches on possible June signing day
