Everybody's buzzing about the early signing period in December, but the real noise starts right now, in April. You see these massive NFL draft prospect lists from Miller and Reid, with our logo right there next to Bama and Georgia, and that's the pitch. That's the silent commit maker. When a kid is sitting in your living room and you can pull up a dozen names from the last three years who got developed and got paid, that's the bagman you can't see. The early signing period just becomes a formality when you've been building that relationship for two years, showing them the path.
I'm hearing we're already locking down key 2027 targets with unofficial visits this spring, getting them on campus before the dead period hits. The staff is using this post-draft buzz as the ultimate closing tool. You don't wait until December to seal the deal with a five-star when you've got the proof of concept sitting in the green room on national TV. The early window is for the guys who already know, the ones who have been all-in since their sophomore summer.
Our biggest battles are against Texas and Oklahoma for those in-state blue-chippers, and this is when we win them. While other schools are just starting their spring evaluations, we're already getting crystal ball flips because we connect the dots from high school star to NFL draft pick. The early signing period isn't an event, it's the finish line of a race we start running today.