Should their be a summer Signing Day for football?

With the 2007 fall signing period almost over (It ends tomorrow), should football get a Signing Day in the summer before the season starts? These high school basketball players get a chance to sign their Letters of Intent before the year gets going. That allows them to focus on the season and not worry about recruiting and which coaches are calling them. And this really doesn’t matter if an athlete is committed or not.

Football obviously has one one of the biggest Signing Days out of any sport but they are only allowed to start signing Letters of Intent on the first Wednesday of February. Other sports get a chance to sign before the season (The fall signing period) as well as after (The spring signing period). Should should football get a chance to sign before the season starts in early July or August?

Let me note that the only way I would ever support a summer signing period for football or any other sports is if they decide to change the rules. What I mean by that is they need to make sure athletes are allowed to get out of their Letters of Intent if the head coach leaves. It could be because he got fired or he took a different job. These athletes base a lot of their decision on the coaching staff. That is why I think this needs to be changed if this would come into effect.

If that rule would be changed, there is no reason why I would not support a summer signing period for football. The first reason is that it will allow the player to know exactly where he will be playing college football. He can’t change or his mind or the school cannot pull the scholarship, no matter how bad or good his senior year ends up going. The player can take visits to that school as often as possible and follow the school because he knows there is no doubt that he will be playing for that program.

The second reason is that it would allow the recruit to focus on academics and being a high school senior. If you are a sought after athlete, there are times when you are getting five calls per night from college coaches. If you assume that each call takes twenty minutes, that is over an hour and a half. Throw in practice, time with family, homework, and there is not much time left in the day. This will allow the athlete to know where they are playing so that they can focus on finishing strong in the class room as well as enjoying their final year of high school.

This move would be great for college coaches as well. Instead of assuming that a quarterback would be coming to your school, they would know for sure. This allows them to focus on other recruits and know who is already signed and who is not. It gives the coaching staff a better feel for the depth chart and how many players they will need to bring in during the late signing period in February.

And as an athlete if you feel you are not ready to make a decision, it will not be a huge deal to wait until February. This waiting period will allow you to see what players this school has signed and figure out who else they are recruiting. It could give you a better feel for your position as far as the depth chart goes.