Report: The Early Signing Period In College Football Might Move To Early December

According to multiple reports, the Early Signing Period for College Football could be moved up earlier in December to the Wednesday (Dec. 4, 2024) before the conference championship games.

The previous early signing period was Dec. 20-22 in 2023.

Also being discussed is adding a signing period in the summer. Per On3:

quote:

---

By moving the early signing period up, it would allow coaches to lock in their early signees before the transfer portal window opens – a big topic of conversation this past December.

“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,” Wistrcill told The Athletic. “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.”

There have also been discussions about adding a summer signing period prior to athletes’ senior seasons – much like basketball’s calendar. That would be in either June or August and also give athletes another opportunity to sign NLIs.

In addition, Wistrcill told The Athletic the subcommittee discussed having transfer portal players sign NLIs. They cannot sign National Letters of Intent under the current rules.

---