Why was the 2024 college football signing period changed? Key dates, more

The playoffs have arrived for college football.

But before the conference champions are crowned and the College Football Playoff field becomes clearer, the biggest recruiting sports event of the season will take place: Early Signing Day.

The three-day signing period that begins Wednesday and ends Friday is one of the busiest three-day periods on the college football calendar.

For college coaches, this is the time to see the relationships built during recruiting turn into commitments and additions to the future of their program. For the recruits themselves, it is one of the most important days of their lives, as it is probably the first important decision they make for their future.

This year’s early signing period will feature several firsts, including when it will take place, as it has been moved up three weeks from previous years.

As it stands, Kirby Smart and No. 5 Georgia occupy the No. 1 2025 recruiting class in the country according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. Headlining the Bulldogs’ 2025 class is five-star defensive lineman Elijah Griffin, the No. 4 player in the class according to 247Sports’ Composite.

Here’s what you need to know about the change in the recruiting calendar this season ahead of Wednesday’s start of the early signing period in college football, including other key recruiting dates this year:

Why is college football’s early signing period different this year?

This move early in the signing period was made to alleviate some of the chaos in the December recruiting calendar and process within college football.

The chaos in reference is, of course, the influx of players who have entered the transfer portal in recent seasons due to name, image and likeness (NIL) playing a role and factor more important in college football (and college athletics). ) recruitment.

The Collegiate Commissioners Association, the governing body that oversees and administers the national letter of intent program for college athletic recruiting, announced the change to the early signing period in March.

“The main reason we are doing this is to clarify the football recruiting calendar so that the signing period and the transfer portal do not overlap,” said the Big Sky commissioner and chairman of the national recruiting subcommittee. letters of intent from the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA). ) Tom Wistrcill told The Athletic in February. “The feedback we have received from all the coaches is that December is a disaster. Especially with the CFP expansion coming next year, it only creates more chaos in December. This should help .”

Before this year, the early signing period in college football took place in late December, around Christmas.

Do college football recruits still have to sign an NLI?

No. Starting this year, recruits no longer need to sign a letter of intent.

This change in the recruiting process, which was considered the binding agreement between a recruit and a program, was announced by the NCAA Division I Council in October.

Instead of an NLI, athletes will agree to a financial aid agreement with schools that will be used as a “contract tied to an impending revenue-sharing model across college sports” according to ESPN. Similar to the NLI, once an athlete signs their written offer of athletic assistance, other programs will not be permitted to communicate with them.

College Football Recruiting Dates 2024-25

Here’s a look at college football’s top recruiting dates in 2024:

Early signing period: From Wednesday December 4 to Friday December 6
The transfer portal opens: From Monday December 9 to Saturday December 28
Traditional signing period: From Wednesday February 5 to Tuesday April 1.

2025 College Football Recruiting Rankings

As previously reported by USA Today, here’s a look at the top-ranked 2025 recruiting classes in the country, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings as of Monday, Dec. 2:

1. Georgia (No. 1 SEC)
2. Alabama (No. 2 SEC)
3. Ohio State (No. 1 in Big Ten)
4. Texas (No. 3 SEC)
5. Auburn (No. 4 SEC)
6. LSU (No. 5 SEC)
7. Oregon (No. 2 in the Big Ten)
8. Michigan (No. 3 in the Big Ten)
9. Tennessee (No. 6 SEC)
10. Texas A&M (No. 7 SEC)