Clemson Football: Swinney is on the right track with the Early Signing Day

Dabo Swinney has made the traditional February Signing Day rather meaningless for Clemson Football. Except for last season, when Clemson had significant staff turnover for the first time, most of Clemson’s high school recruiting classes are signed on the Early Signing Day in December.

Last week, Swinney was asked about his feelings on Early Signing Day, and if he thought it should be moved up into the summer.

"“Honestly, I love the Early Signing Period. I’ve always been an advocate for it. I’d love for it to be earlier. Personally, I think after Aug. 1 of your senior year, you should be able to sign anytime you want. It’s sad what is going on in high school in recruiting. There are a lot of kids that used to have a lot of opportunity and access that are not getting it now. … I would advocate to leave it or move forward because it protects the kids. … That would protect those kids from all these fake offers. That’s important. And then it would protect all these kids who are committed for a long time but then the portal opens and then people all see this portal guy and they call the high school kids back and say ‘you don’t have a scholarship here anymore.’ I think it ought to be earlier so those kids can lock into their school.”"

Coach Swinney has been reading my mail. I despise the ‘uncommittable offer’ that has become something of the norm around college football. I do understand why it exists, however. Some recruits aren’t willing to travel to a campus, on their dime or otherwise until they have been offered. Some staffs aren’t willing to accept a commitment from a player until they have had the chance to see him in person, which creates something of a paradox. Thus the uncommittable offer to convince the kid to travel to campus for a workout with the coaches.

Then there is the situation we see with coaches being fired and hired, as has happened recently at Colorado. New head coach Deion Sanders reneged on multiple scholarships that had been offered by former coach Karl Dorrell.

I understand Sander’s situation, and I also value that he is being upfront with Colorado’s players and verbally committed recruits, but this is a situation that should never happen.

I agree with Coach Swinney’s opinion that if a school wants to offer a player, it should be a real offer. If a player wants to commit to it, they should be able to sign on the dotted line and send in the letter of intent when they are ready, and it should be binding, whether the school decides to change coaches or not.

A summer signing day for high school recruits would be beneficial for Clemson Football

If anything, I would take it a step further than Swinney and not even put a ‘start day’ on signing. If a school wants to offer a high school sophomore, and the kid wants to commit, then they should be able to do it.

I believe that the finality of the situation would give both schools and recruits pause to pull the trigger too early. Will some of them make bad decisions? Of course. There are always examples of people who make bad choices and become examples for people in the future to avoid the same mistakes.

Is what I am proposing likely to happen? No. My idea is harsh in the eyes of many. Is the summer signing period likely? I think it is. I am not sure if the window will open in August and remain open, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Early Signing Day move to the summer, or for a third signing day to be introduced.