Stop pretending the early signing period is some sacred, fan-friendly event that gives us clarity. It's a complete farce that only benefits the big dogs and leaves programs like ours scrambling in the dark. Everyone gets hyped for December, thinking they've locked down their class, only to watch half of it get poached by Power Four schools who come in with bigger NIL bags after their seasons end. What good is a "signed" letter of intent when the kid can still hit the portal a month later if a better offer comes along? It creates a false sense of security.
For us at the FCS level, it's a nightmare. We spend months building relationships with croots, get a soft commit, maybe even a signature in December, and then we have to sweat it out until February anyway because some Mountain East rival or a desperate G5 program starts whispering in their ear during the dead period. The early signing period was supposed to calm the chaos, but it just moved the chaos earlier and made the winter window even more brutal. Our staff has to operate like every commit is a silent commit until the fax actually comes through on the traditional signing day.
The real story nobody talks about is how it kills development time. Instead of our coaches focusing on spring ball and installing schemes with the guys who are actually here, they're stuck on the phone 24/7 doing damage control, trying to hold onto December signees and flipping other guys who got left out in the cold. We need that crystal ball to be right in December, not have it shatter in January. The whole system needs to be one signing period, after all the coaching carousel and portal madness settles. This two-phase nonsense just extends the anxiety for everyone.
