Between Alabama, Florida State, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Michigan, there were 36 ESPN 300 prospects who enrolled early in the 2017 class. That is 36 highly sought after recruits the coaches at those programs didn’t have to worry about flipping to another school or decommitting in the final stretch of recruiting.
The 2017 recruiting class seemed to have less late drama than in year’s past and that could have something to do with the growing number of early enrollees. Among the top 50 prospects in this class, 26 were mid-year enrollees, which included 11 of the 15 five-stars. Expanding that number out to the top 150 prospects in the ESPN 300, 54 enrolled early.
When a prospect enrolls mid-year, he typically is admitted to the school in the beginning of January and is locked in to that school once he attends classes. That means the prospect is bound by transfer rules and off limits to any opposing coaches that would otherwise try to keep recruiting that player until signing day.
“It definitely helps to get them to enroll early so you don’t have to babysit the last two and a half weeks of recruiting,” One FBS coach said. “It’s less you have to worry about.”
With coaches always looking to steal recruits away and the top-ranked prospects being so highly sought after, if a coaching staff is able to get them to enroll early, it eliminates any angst about losing that commitment.
The conversation typically starts before a prospect’s senior season between the recruit and the coaching staff. If the recruit is open to enrolling in college mid-year, typically in the beginning of January, the coaches and prospect work to find out what academic requirements must be met to allow the prospect to graduate high school early and enroll in the institution of his choosing.
Having those prospects on campus and off limits to any other recruiting activities gives coaches extra time and resources to focus on the remaining targets that are yet to commit. It has also, seemingly, been used as a de facto signing period.
“The number one reason we want a lot of mid-years is to get them for spring practice so they can contribute freshman year,” another FBS coach said. “Number two reason is so we can get them in the boat and focus on finishing the class.”
Getting those recruits in school essentially creates a faux early signing period for the programs that can get them on board. What’s interesting now for coaches is that there soon could be an actual early signing period in December.
If the December signing period is approved via vote and early enrollee numbers continue to rise, we could see less and less drama around the February signing day. That’s not such a bad thing in the minds of coaches as it creates less work and less stress for that current class.
“The more early enrollees, the more of your class is set,” an FBS recruiter said. “It allows you to focus on the next year and send (coaches) out to see underclassmen.”
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