Officially, national signing day allows high school football players to start signing a letter of intent with the college of their choice.
In reality, national signing day is not a starting block but a finish line. All the committing, de-committing, flip-flopping and re-committing stops.
“It’s the end of the fiscal year of college football,” said former UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel of the Pac-12 Network. “Truthfully, the next year has already started. It’s a culmination of lots of work, two and three and four years of work to get these guys into the boat.”
Sure, there are occasional stragglers among the blue chippers. Some kids get cold feet and need a little extra time. Or maybe mom flips out and needs to be reassured that her baby is in good hands. But for the most part, by the time Wednesday is over, the vast majority of FBS teams will have their latest haul of players locked up.
“It’s a long day,” Neuheisel said.
For a coach, the best signing days are drama-free.
“The last thing any coach wants at the 11th-hour is a surprise,” Neuheisel said.
Four things to know about signing day 2014:
H H H
The reason why the Southeastern Conference wins all those national championships and bowls is apparent every signing day. When it comes to quality and quantity, the Deep South is the most fertile football recruiting territory in the country.
SEC schools are sinking big bucks into coaches’ salaries and facilities to make sure all those studs stay close to home. Heading into signing day, the leading recruiting news sites all had nine SEC teams ranked in the national top 20.
Expect Alabama to be crowned recruiting national champs again; the Crimson Tide has had the top class, according to Rivals.com, each of the last three seasons, and they have commitments from five of Rivals’ five-star recruits.
H H H
Most of the top prospects already have made solid verbal commitments. Signing day is a formality. But a few of the most-sought after recruits in the nation still are undecided:
Malachi Dupre: The wide receiver from River Ridge, La., and two of his teammates took a late trip to UCLA.
Mike Farrell, national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com, said LSU still is his best guess on where Dupre lands, but watch out for Florida State.
Adoree’ Jackson: The defensive back from Gardena, Calif., took late trips to UCLA and USC and also is considering Florida and LSU – “that’s a family fight,” Farrell said.
Malik McDowell: The defensive lineman from Southfield, Mich., appears to be leaning toward Michigan State, though his parents aren’t – “that’s a pretty publicized family battle,” Farrell said.
H H H
Last season, three of Rivals’ five-stars flipped on signing day, including Florida State star defensive back Jalen Ramsey.
Farrell said running back Joe Mixon of Oakley, Calif., is a candidate to pull a similar move this season. He’s committed to Oklahoma, but maybe UCLA can change his mind.
H H H
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was a two-star recruit, according to Rivals, when he signed with North Carolina State in 2007.
The top-rated quarterback in that class was Jimmy Clausen.
Wilson just won a Super Bowl.
This is not an exact science.
