February's National Signing Day Used To Be Celebrated, Now It's Just Another Day On Recruiting Calendar

National Signing Day in February used to be an unofficial national holiday, but those days are long gone now. Folks would take off from work just to follow their favorite team and which 18-year-old prospect was going to change their football team, but once again, those days are history. 

It started a few years ago when the NCAA adopted a second signing day during December, and unfortunately for fans of the sport, it has taken the spotlight off February. Don't get me wrong, there are still a handful of prospects that wait until the second month of the year to announce their commitments, but the hoopla surrounding the event has been lost. 

Instead of every team hosting a news conference to discuss their signing class, some schools did not sign a player during this period, meaning no extra coverage for their program. This also means the head coach doesn't get to sit in front of the media and discuss how much his class will change the trajectory of their program. 

What was once a signature day has turned into an afterthought tucked somewhere between the transfer portal and coaching changes. 

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko pointed toward this change during his media gathering Wednesday, noting that this is more of a closure to a cycle than a celebration. 

"It's interesting how much college has changed," Elko said. "This used to be the huge mega day, and now it's just the end of the cycle."

Elko did have a nice Wednesday, getting the signature of 5-Star athlete Terry Bussey of Timpson High School in Timpson, Texas.

Most of this has to do with how the transfer portal works, and the configuration of a signing class from the high school ranks in December. Most coaches would rather have their classes filled out during the early signing period, but also leave a few spots open for days like Tuesday, just in case. 

Bellflower, CA - December 20: St. John Bosco football stars simulate signing their letters of intent during the National Signing Day event in Bellflower on Saturday, December 31, 2022. (Photo by Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images)

Building A Roster Through The Transfer Portal Or High School Ranks?

Both of these routes have become the new norm in college football. Can a school do enough when it comes to transfer portal that could take care of some of the issues with their roster? This is the hope when making evaluations at the end of the each season. If a head coach is coming into a new program, like Mike Elko at Texas A&M, he's going to want his own stamp on the recruiting class. 

Sure, there might not be enough time after a coach signs with a school to attack the early period, but it does give them a chance to go after players from the portal. Well, hopefully it gives them enough time, as we saw with Jim Harbaugh leaving Michigan, the Wolverines will now have to rely on the April period. 

But a lot of this still comes down to the preference of the head coach, and how they want to build their football program. Some, like Dabo Swinney are not big proponents of the portal and stick to building players out of high school. While in other cases, schools like Colorado are looking for the quick fix and will raid the portal looking for players with experience to plug into their rosters. 

All of that is part of the new era in college athletics, which means a Feburary signing day is not going to be the must-see television of the past. There is also the significant area of concern of lower-tier schools, where they will sign a player out of high school, develop them, then have a Power-5 school swoop in to profit off their work. 

In simpler terms, group of five schools are turning into farm systems for the Power-5 institutions, and that problem isn't going away anytime soon. If Michigan was a major league squad, than Central Michigan is the Triple-A team preparing those players for a step-up. 

It's an unfortunate way to look at college football in today's era, but it's an ugly truth. 

As for National Signing Day in February, it was once the premier event in recruiting. But now, it's been turned into just another day on the recruiting calendar, with a few pieces of big news that break during the day. 

I really enjoyed the old days.