Report: CFB Early Signing Period for Recruits Expected to Move to December

Big Sky commissioner Tom Wistrcill told The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach on Thursday that the college football early signing period for recruits is expected to move up to the Wednesday before FBS championship games commence, which this season will be Dec. 4.

"The biggest reason we're doing this is to clear up the football recruiting calendar so the signing period and the transfer portal don't overlap," he said. "The feedback we've received from all coaches is that December is a mess. Especially with the expansion of the CFP coming next year, that just creates more chaos in December. This should help."

Wistrcill, who serves as the chair for the Collegiate Commissioners Association's National Letter of Intent subcommittee, said it was still being debated whether the early signing period would last three or seven days.

The subcommittee is also considering a summer signing period, allowing incoming college recruits three chances to sign national letters of intent: The summer before their senior years, the December during their senior years and the February during their senior years.

December has become a frenzied month in college football. With the regular ending, the early portion of the month features conference championship games, followed by coaches being hired and fired around the sport, teams preparing for bowl games or the College Football Playoff and the winter transfer portal.

It will only get more hectic this upcoming year, as the expanded 12-team CFP will now begin in December.

That stressful period has frustrated college football coaches and administrators alike, with many coaches favoring the transfer portal opening after the season ends rather than December.

"People will say, you won't get your guys for spring ball. But with the extended hours in the summer, we should be able to get them caught up," Marshall head coach Charles Huff told Jesse Simonton of On3 in January. "We can't have everything, but to get a little more control, a little more continuity, it would help ease some of the tension and stress with bowl games, end of the season, championships, kids making decisions with the NFL."

That's an entirely different conversation, of course. But alleviating some of the stress in December by adjusting the calendar for a number of things, including when recruits can sign NLIs, makes sense.