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5 observations and things that matter after the 2020 recruiting season and National Signing Day are over.
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There are still a few storylines in the 2020 recruiting season – like RB Zachary Evans not deciding on a school yet – even though National Signing Day came and went, but for the most part, it’s on to 2021.
Here are five observations and things that matter now that it’s over.
5. National Signing Day is Blockbuster …
And the Early Signing Period is Netflix.
I used to hate National Signing Day.
The lead-up required weeks and weeks of research and discussion and speculation all for one silly day when older men made a really big deal about where a bunch of kids were going to college.
The worst part about it all was the lack of a true payoff. It was all speculation about how good the undeveloped talents could be three or more years – for the most part – after they signed.
NSD took on a life of its own outside of the normal college football world. It became an occasionally creepy time with message board threats, genuine anger, and a whole lot of pressure. It was also a celebration.
And I sort of miss it.
The first Wednesday in February used to be the one big day of the college football offseason.
The NBA has its free agency period and trade deadline, the NFL has its draft, and baseball has its hot stove league. National Signing Day was a chance for college football fans to look ahead to what might be happening with their respective programs, and it was a time to talk college football before settling in for a big snooze over the following six months.
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Now, most top players are all but locked in several months, if not years, in advance. The Early Signing Period in late December is when everyone of note signs on – which totally gets blown off nationally because the bowl season is in full gear – and the transfer portal has become more important than either of the two signing days.
Not all that long ago, National Signing Day was wall-to-wall all-day TV coverage on at least two of the all-sports station. Every major web site treated it like Christmas because of all the page views and traffic, and it was a major, major thing.
This year? It was an hour-long wrap-up show – if that – on one of the ESPN networks or conference-only channels, because nothing really happened.
Anecdotally, I used to be hit up for at least 15 radio appearances across the country on NSD. This year, I was had the same 15+ requests, but the talk was 95% about Mark Dantonio.
National Signing Day just isn’t a thing anymore. The hype and craziness around recruiting has peaked, and now it’s more business-like and subdued.
It’s just another day in the college football offseason.
However, there are parts of this that really do matter, starting with …