this made sense at the time [Bryan Fuller]

Goodbye, Signing Day Comment Count

Brian February 6th, 2020 at 11:58 AM

Yesterday was Signing Day. Except it wasn't because Signing Day is no more. I feel like I need to explain the madness to you like it was late 90s Yost Ice Arena, except I don't. Unless you are ten years old you should be able to remember what Signing Day was like. I sat in some form of chat for hours on end as four or five guys would stage elaborate hat festivals and celebrate or mourn until the next one. It was a big deal! Remember this?

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Sklars! Tom Brady! [Bryan Fuller]

That was just four years ago.

[After THE JUMP: madness in memoriam]

This year I forgot about Signing Day entirely until one of Michigan State's unsigned recruits decided to hold off after Dantonio pulled the ripcord. In the late period Michigan was recruiting one guy who was clearly going to Stanford, and he went to Stanford. Michigan's unsigned guys flipped to Baylor (OL Micah Mazzccua) and Princeton (TE Nick Patterson), as the writing on the wall indicated they would. I was going to start some more recruiting coverage and then there was nothing to cover.

The December date is the date, and a substantial amount of the yearly insanity of college football has been exiled. I guess we have the portal now. But nobody's obligated to type for eight hours straight because of the portal. The portal is mostly good for science fiction jokes. It's not nothing but neither is it sitting on pins and needles to see if Rashan Gary is going to actually send in his LOI.

Think of the things we've lost, or at least stopped paying attention to: guys flipping twice in one morning. Offering that random instate kid who always wanted an offer but never got one. (If he comes he's Dennis Norfleet; if Michigan doesn't actually send the kid a LOI he's Alaric Jackson; maybe nevermind this one.) Guys pulling dogs out from underneath the table to commit to Georgia. The occasional furious mom sitting next to her kid because he didn't take the biggest offer. Fax machines 20 years after fax machines stopped being used in any other context.

Maybe it was all stupid and made up drama, but I liked stupid and made up drama. Signing Day was the one day a year when college football revealed that Marco's baby is actually Kyle's because the surrogate mother of Gunnarwolfe ran into Kyle on an official visit. Even when the hyped guys ended up going somewhere other than Michigan despite being a stone cold lock the thwarted expectation became another barnacle on the intricate belly of college football. Ask a certain sort of Michigan fan about names like Sean Parker and Travis Johnson and they will moan at you. Maybe twitch.

These things still happen, of course. There was something about so many of them happening on the same day each year that burned them into your head. I'm sure coaches love being able to get the babysitting portion of each recruiting class over two months earlier; it's clear that the early date doesn't bother people since they sign during it. The average commit date has moved up about six months, it seems like. A December signing date is fine and makes sense.

That's the whole problem. Signing Day is about nonsense. College football is about nonsense. February Signing Day could easily have been sponsored by a company that is trying to make you feel like a Bad Boy for mowing the lawn. December Signing Day is just a guy with a slightly weird hat.

Ah well. At least the names get better each year.

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At least we'll always have the names.

Comments

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

February 6th, 2020 at 12:13 PM ^

it's clear that the early date doesn't bother people since they sign during it.

I'm not sure about that.  It's sort of like when the team introduces uniformzz.  Players may or may not like them, but if they hate them they stay silent for the sake of not making waves, so we get the myth of "the players love them."  Or, like saying recruits like LOIs because they sign them....even though the LOI is totally about protecting the school. 

Just because a player signs early doesn't mean he wants to.  He might, or he might be getting pressure from the coaches about being recruited over if he doesn't.  Especially since early signing day is another tool to protect the school and coaches, and not the players.

stephenrjking

February 6th, 2020 at 12:24 PM ^

Sure, guys that are lower down have to sign to hold on to a spot. If you're a 3-star and you have a committable offer to the place you want to go to, you sign early. 

But a top-100 prospect doesn't need to sign. He can sign almost anywhere he wants, and every school that wants him will keep a spot open for him. They will not lose a spot.

Yet, they sign. So there is something in it for them.

Honestly, one of the top reasons to sign early? Get the whole process over with. If you're enrolling early, you get that process underway. If you aren't, you get to enjoy your last year of high school. No more phone calls from a dozen schools every day. No more recruiting mail. No more rat race. You know what your future is. 

Seems like a good deal, or so I gather from how many guys do it that way.

DonAZ

February 6th, 2020 at 1:03 PM ^

Honestly, one of the top reasons to sign early? Get the whole process over with.

From what I understand, the process can be quite overwhelming.  It may be gratifying at first, but the constant phone calls, the apprehension about making the right decision ... they all weigh on an 18 year old.  So I can see how signing early would be appealing: it closes that door and allows the young man to move on to the next.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

February 6th, 2020 at 1:09 PM ^

I'm sure there are lots of recruits who like signing early and getting the process over with, but there are better, more recruit-friendly ways to do it.  Like a verbal commitment clearinghouse, which Brian has mentioned in the past.  I mean, the transfer portal is the same thing but for transfers.

"Everyone does it, so they must like it" is, in fact, an argument in favor of not paying players a damn thing other than scholarships, and never having NIL laws, which is not a position Brian takes.  So it's not that great of a justification for moving to a decidedly less recruit-friendly position than before.

stephenrjking

February 6th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^

A verbal commitment is just a verbal commitment and those things flip all the time. The only way to actually “commit” is to sign. A guy who is not signed is a guy who programs believe can change his mind, because he can. There is simply no way to allow a guy to remain uncommitted without also having the recruitability of a guy who is uncommitted.

I’m not some “the players need to take their scholly and like it” old fashioned type. I’ve written extensively, for years, that I favor granting players NIL rights, and I think the new transfer rule proposal is good. I just don’t agree, at all, that this is a 100% anti-player situation. I think schools should be required to honor the scholarships they offer, so in situations where there are rugs in pulled out from guys I agree that changes could be needed. But at some point both schools and players need to have the opportunity to formalize their commitments. It’s good for both parties. 

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

February 7th, 2020 at 7:02 AM ^

A verbal commitment is just a verbal commitment and those things flip all the time. The only way to actually “commit” is to sign.

That can change with just a tiny mote of imagination on the NCAA's part.  Set up a commitment clearinghouse where a recruit can register a verbal commitment.  When he does so, he can no longer be contacted by other schools or take official visits anywhere else, but is free to pull back the commitment at any time and open himself back up.  And while committed (and he can only commit to a school that has sent a written offer) the school is required to honor the scholarship.  They're locked in, but the player is not.

Boom.  Problem solved.  The hassle of the recruitment cycle is over, all on the recruit's terms.  Coaches like it because their recruits can't be contacted.  Players don't have the flood of text messages anymore, unless they want them.  AND they don't have to sign a totally binding commitment BEFORE the coaching carousel begins!  It's better for everyone.

Instead we have early signing day, because the NCAA wouldn't know a creative solution if it smacked them on the head with a frying pan, and because coaches came up with something that protects them but harms the players.

Marvin

February 6th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^

Dorsey was symbolic of numerous aspects of Michigan's football program during Rich Rodriguez's time here, just as Jai Eugene symbolized many aspects of Lloyd Carr's final years. 

https://247sports.com/college/michigan/Article/Florida-safeties-coach-Ron-English-reflects-upon-his-time-at-Michigan-and-shares-the-real-story-of-the-events-that-led-to-the-high-profile-decommitment-of-5-star-recruit-Jai-E-128481350/

MGoBlue-querque

February 6th, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^

Signing day shenanigans are still happening, though with less frequency:

 

https://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news/local-news/northwood-hs-football-player-signing-ole-miss-commitment-letter-a-hoax/

Lede from the story: "A Northwood High School football player’s commitment to play in the SEC for a Division I school appears to have been a hoax."

And yes, the university in question was Ole Miss.

Wolverine In Iowa 68

February 6th, 2020 at 2:38 PM ^

Fax machines are still used in healthcare to transmit information between hospitals.

Because, when you're dealing with sick patients facing life-threatening illness, you WANT 19th century technology in the mix...

JFW

February 6th, 2020 at 2:51 PM ^

Fax machines 20 years after fax machines stopped being used in any other context.

Sadly fax machines are still used in healthcare. Alot. Because they are considered secure; and in general they are cheap and easy. 

RockinLoud

February 6th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^

Right, it's the hard copy issue. Medical paperwork are largely physical pieces of paper, much easier to toss a stack of paper onto a fax machine (usually a big multi-purpose copier/printer/fax machine) that scans it all in seconds and immediately transmits it to the recipient (either fax # or email). 

 

Chris S

February 6th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^

Great write-up as usual Brian.

Umgoblue11 hinted at this in his Diary post a month or so ago, but sometimes I forget how innovative Harbaugh was on the recruiting front before his ideas got stamped out. Signing with the Stars was a great thing; it's probably too much of a hassle to try and get that thing set up in December, coming right off a full season and before bowl practice. The Satellite Camps were great too before they became illegal or whatever.

BornInA2

February 6th, 2020 at 3:24 PM ^

It's so wrong that someone's day of fun and online chattering is ended and could easily be corrected if only the poor student athletes who get ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for playing a kid's game were allowed seven figure signing bonuses. Man, that would make it all fair and better again.

/sarcasm