By far and away, I have heard much more positives about the early signing periods than negatives.. Everyone that has verbal commits loves the saving of time and other resources in 'babysitting' to make sure those 'commits' stay committed until signing day. Once the commit's name is signed on a national letter of intent, it is as good as gold. No more chance of de-committing and signing elsewhere.
It is good for the recruits as well as they don't have to worry about the letters, texts, phone calls, etc from other schools trying to change their minds as to where to commit... The kid can ease into the holidays knowing that the recruiting calls will stop. I have gone through this with a couple of kids I coached and its more of an ordeal for the player and family than some fans realize. It is exciting that people want the player's services but it can be a real distraction for the family as well.. Not all families handle the recruiting process well because it CAN BE a lot of interruptions for a player and family who are just trying to live life normally. It is not all a bed of roses and it can be a huge pressure that the player and family are not prepared to handle. All good reasons to make it as painless as possible by just getting the whole thing over with, before the holidays.
The OTHER SIDE of the argument can be represented, somewhat, by the feelings of Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer. Urban has one of the top 2 recruiting classes in the nation, so its not like he is hurting in results from the early signing period. So it MUST BE a joke that Meyer is complaining, right?? Well, I would like to consider his points.
I am guessing that almost everyone that hears that Meyer disagrees automatically assumes that the issue would be that Meyer wants to poach players from other programs so the more time he has to change minds of commits, the better for a program like Ohio State... Logical for sure but he actually has other reasons. It has more to do with late developing players who were not on the radar, early in the year.
Ohio high school football has a reputation of late developing players.. It compels college coaches to ask high school coaches in the state if there are guys that just haven't had a chance to prove themselves before their senior year, yet have division 1 potential. I can tell you that Tyvis Powell, Joshua Perry, and Darron Lee are players that Meyer got late that were not seriously on Ohio State's recruiting radar at the beginning of their senior years in high school... Yet became great players for the Buckeyes. Late bloomers who Meyer and staff did not have relationships with the families of the players until the end of their senior years in high school football.
Meyer would argue that a team like Ohio State would finish the year with Michigan and then have a high probability of being picked for a major bowl game.. Bowl preparation and press conferences,along with final tests for the high school players before Christmas break, the team and the prospective player may have a hard time finding a mutual time to meet up and evaluate that type of a late blooming kid IN THAT SHORT OF A TIME BEFORE A DECISION IN THE EARLY SIGNING PERIOD.. Powell, Perry, and Lee may never have signed with the Buckeyes had there been an early signing period. Meyer was able to find time to develop the relationship with the players and family, AFTER THE NEW YEAR, then followed it up with a signing in February. Meyer's argument says that in a player who is late developing, this is a critical time to gather information to determine options.
No one feels sorry for Urban, that is for sure.. My personal opinion, with all things considered, is that the early signing period is much more beneficial than detrimental. But it isn't perfect nor will it ever be perfect. But there are legitimate points in the opposing views.. I just posted this so that it is something interesting to think about.
