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Will the new early signing period help Kentucky Football recruiting?

By Frank Spencer

Sep 5, 2015; Lexington, KY, USA; A general view of Commonwealth Stadium before the game against the Kentucky Wildcats and the Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns. Kentucky defeated Louisiana Lafayette 40-33. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 5, 2015; Lexington, KY, USA; A general view of Commonwealth Stadium before the game against the Kentucky Wildcats and the Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns. Kentucky defeated Louisiana Lafayette 40-33. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports /
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It was announced on Monday, May 8, 2017 that college football would change forever. Now, the sport will include an early signing day period for high school recruits. How does this affect the Kentucky Football program?

Mark Stoops and Kentucky Football  are at a new level when it comes to recruiting. With big commitments from top tier players, Kentucky sometimes fails to sign those players. What happens to Kentucky at times is those top players receive offers from very tradition-rich programs such as Alabama, USC, Oregon, Ohio State among others. Those schools have more pull for top talent due to their history and winning traditions.

Unfortunately, Kentucky isn’t to a point yet to draw in five-star caliber players. But, the time will come. Top prospects like Lynn Bowden, Joshua Paschal and Marquan McCall of the class of 2018 have all seen something in Big Blue Country that they love. Paschal and Bowden have signed and will be on campus in just a few short weeks. McCall, Kentucky’s latest commitment, will have to wait to sign his letter of intent. Who is to say that McCall will keep his pledge with the Cats through his entire senior season and sign with the Cats on National Signing Day on February 7.

The Solution to some of the problems

The new additional signing period beginning on December 20 will last 72 hours. It will allow college bound athletes to make their pledge official earlier in the grand scheme of things. It can aid in some of the late flip commitments that are so common nearing the usual signing periods. How does this help Kentucky?

It’s pretty simple to understand that something like this would benefit a school like Kentucky. Stoops and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow have reeled in some pretty big commitments, but unfortunately haven’t had the opportunity to retain them. Mac Jones for example was a flip to Alabama. The four star quarterback was committed to the BBN for a long period of time. Even though Jones decommitted from Kentucky in June of 2016, he’s an example of the type of issues Kentucky Football recruiting has had to endure.

Next: Kentucky Football News and Headlines

Now, thanks to the rule change, if a Kentucky commit wants to end the process earlier and get his mind set on enrolling early, or to put an end to the pressure of the recruiting process, they can. As a coaching staff, this early signing period ends the long month of January recruiting steals and flips from other schools. They will have a general idea of what their class is going to look like. Some hard commits will have the chance to make it official and start preparing for college football at an earlier time.

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