Mullen Excited, Has Questions About Possible End to Recruiting Dead Period
The recruiting classes of 2021 and 2022 have been handed tremendously difficult circumstances over the past year when it comes to making a college decision. Although each prospect is or has been tasked with deciding where to spend the next three or more years of their lives, they've not been allowed to visit their campuses of choice or meet coaches in person.
Sure, not being able to meet football coaches is a small consequence of the worldwide pandemic, but it is one nonetheless that is altering the course to football and a college education for thousands of high school upperclassmen across the country.
When the coronavirus pandemic began in full force last March, the NCAA put a moratorium in place on in-person athletics recruiting. The "dead period," as it is more commonly known as, remains in place to this day. But that could be changing in the near future, as Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reports that the NCAA will recommend lifting the dead period on May 31.
“I think it’s huge. I think one of the things, I’m just curious as to how they’re going to go about it," Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen said about the report on Monday.
"There’s still just so many questions," Mullen continued. "Is it June 1 and life back to normal? Does it include the summer dead period? Is it official visits, unofficial visits, camps, everything?"
These are important questions that will have to be answered in the coming months before the NCAA re-opens in-person recruiting. Until herd community can be created via COVID-19 vaccine administration, piling donzens of recruits into the stadium for a Friday Night Lights camp or junior day event could lead to a spread of coronavirus - both for visiting families and within Florida's athletic program.
In the past 12 months, Mullen has suggested several times that new recruiting methods the program has adapted to amid the pandemic could continue to be utilized when in-person recruiting opens back up.
Prospects have transitioned to virtually visiting schools over the past year to compensate for official and unofficial visits to campus, a method that Florida has found some success with. One of the program's recent 2022 commits, Flower Mound (Texas) quarterback Nick Evers, pledged to Florida days after completing a virtual visit and plans to tour the campus with his family this summer.
However, there's something different about seeing the school in person for a prospective college student and athlete. Mullen looks forward to providing that opportunity again if it can be done safely.
"It’s going to be great to do that and I know kids are dying and excited to get here," Mullen acknowledged. "The balance of how that works because I think one thing, there will be a mad rush as soon as that happens. That’s something we have to be smart and careful about with COVID to avoid a spike, to avoid issues within our team when there’s this mad rush of kids trying to get to every campus as fast as possible."
Predicting an "onslaught" of visits to come in June and throughout the summer before fall camp kicks off, it wouldn't come as much of a surprise to see the Gators split their visits between in-person and virtual meetings to navigate the pandemic before herd immunity is reached.
Prospects in the class of 2022, perhaps priority recruits from the 2023 cycle as well, could take first priority with the early signing period just six months removed from when the dead period is expected to be lifted.
Mullen is looking forward to further guidance from the NCAA before the moratorium reaches its end in order to answer these questions and to create a recruiting battle plan. Visits are a pivotal aspect of recruiting, but they can't simple start back up in full swing come June. Coaches need more information on how to conduct the events, which Mullen hopes to receive sooner rather than later.
"It will be interesting," said Mullen. "Hopefully they’ll get us the information sooner rather than later so we can have the opportunity to put a strategy in place before it gets thrown on us.”