College Football Early Signing Period Could Be Moved to Early December
College Football recruiting has changed quite a bit in the six years that I've been covering it as a writer.
When I started back in 2018, the early signing period didn't exist. All the fireworks and flips came in February. Now we have the early signing period, which took place last year from December 18 through December 20.
But it looks like we could be heading for more change once again. On Thursday, Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic reported that college football's early signing period is expected to move to earlier in December, specifically Wednesday December 4, right before conference championship weekend and before the transfer portal opens.
Right now the month of December is arguably the most chaotic of the entire year.
Not only are conference championships being won on the field, but the college football playoff is set---all while coaches are being fired and subsequently hired right as the regular season ends.
Add to that the opening of the transfer portal and recruits signing their national letters of intent and it's a lot for anyone to keep up with. The primary aim of moving the early signing to earlier in the month is that it would avoid overlap with the opening of the NCAA transfer portal. The new early signing period in December would reportedly last between three and seven days.
Believe it or not, an adjusted early signing December period isn't the only change in the works. According to Auerbach, who spoke with Big Sky commissioner Tom Wistrcill, who chairs the National Letter of Intent subcommittee of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA), the possibility of a summer signing period is also being discussed.
The summer signing period would occur in either June or August, beginning and ending before a recruit starts their senior season.
Dan Lanning has had first-hand experience with how crazy of a month December can be. He was formally announced as Oregon's head coach on December 11, 2021 after Mario Cristobal took the Miami job.
At the time Lanning was still serving as Georgia's defensive coordinator in their national championship run and also had to juggle building out his new Oregon staff while trying to maintain and add to Oregon's 2022 recruiting class.
During that time he was able to regain commitments from cornerback Jahlil Florence, now a sophomore at Oregon, as well as offensive lineman Dave Iuli.
Fortunately for the Ducks, they have more stability at the top of their program under Dan Lanning than a majority of college football.
Oregon's 2025 recruiting class
- 4* WR Dallas Wilson (Tampa, FL)
- 4* WR Adrian Wilson (Pflugerville, TX)
- 4* QB Akili Smith Jr. (San Diego, CA)
- 3* EDGE Matthew Johnson (Concord, Calif.)
- 3* OL Chavez "Sandman" Thompson (Melbourne, FL)
