December has become something of a nightmare month for college football coaches.
In a short span, they must contend with conference championships, bowl season and the College Football Playoff, the early signing period and the opening of the winter transfer portal window. On top of all that, most coaching changes shake out in December, leaving many staffs and players scrambling to make decisions about their futures.
The NCAA has tinkered with the calendar a few times in recent years and, given the current glut of events in December, could make a significant change to how recruiting works over the course of the year.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel shared a proposal that is set to be discussed by NCAA football officials in Indianapolis this week which would add a third signing period to the recruiting calendar and move up the timing of the December period.
The proposal calls for the implementation of a new early signing period beginning the last Wednesday in June, which would allow recruits to sign letters of intent before the beginning of their senior seasons, allowing them to end their recruitment very early. The second signing period would be moved up to the start of December, on the first Wednesday after the end of the FBS regular season. In 2024, that would fall on Dec. 4. The traditional February signing day would remain on the first Wednesday of the month.
UPDATE: NCAA football officials meeting in Indianapolis this week to discuss calendar change for Signing Day. Here's what they are proposing -- three signing periods: Last Wednesday in June, the Wednesday following the regular season and first Wednesday in February. pic.twitter.com/ckPHuh5bs1
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 28, 2024
The addition of a June signing period and the change to the December period could alleviate some major issues for coaches at the end of the year. Players who are completely solid in their commitment decisions can take themselves off the board heading into their senior seasons, something that is currently afforded to college basketball recruits.
Last week, Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic reported that the December changes could move that month’s signing period ahead of the opening of the transfer portal window. Right now, it falls in the middle of the 30-day portal window. Big Sky commissioner Tom Wistrcill, chair of the Collegiate Commissioners Association’s National Letter of Intent subcommittee, told The Athletic that coaches’ concerns over how busy December has grown has fueled talks of reform.
“The biggest reason we’re doing this is to clear up the football recruiting calendar so the signing period and the transfer portal don’t overlap,” Wistrcill said. “The feedback we’ve received from all coaches is that December is a mess. Especially with the expansion of the CFP coming next year, that just creates more chaos in December. This should help.”
That becomes even more important in 2024, with the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams. The first round of the Playoff is scheduled to be played on Dec. 20–21, with the quarterfinals to be played on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
