Dabo Swinney Proposes Change to College Football’s Recruiting Calendar

Dabo Swinney has an idea for how to improve the college football offseason.

In an interview with 247Sports’ Carl Reed, the Clemson coach presented how he thinks the NCAA should approach the signing period moving forward.

“For me personally, I wish it was earlier. I wish it was Aug. 1 or Aug. 15 and then they have one in February. I actually proposed that to our ACC coaches and tried and could just never get some traction. That was several years before the December signing period ultimately came about,” Swinney said. “I’ve always valued our offer and want it to mean something. I want to take a commitment when we make an offer. That’s how we’ve always gone about it here. I think a lot of schools make a lot of offers, but if a kid tries to commit, they say it’s not a committable offer. I’ve never understood that. So, I always felt it we moved to August, it would protect the kids.”

In 2017, the NCAA added a second signing day to go along with the normal February signing day. This year, the earlier signing period was between Dec. 15–17, and the later signing period came on Feb. 2. Swinney’s suggestion would keep the February date but move up the early signing day date.

Swinney thinks it would be better for incoming recruits if they could commit to a program before the season begins. However, he also believes if the first signing period was before the season, coaches would get a longer leash instead of getting fired midseason.

“I think it is also good for the coaches,” Swinney said. “Maybe that AD instead of firing that coach in the middle of the season, maybe he says, ‘You know what, he’s got a good class signed in August. If we fire that guy, these guys are free to go wherever. Maybe we give him another year.’”