The traditional National Signing Day in February has lost its significance for most major college football programs.
• An early signing period in December, introduced in 2017, has become the primary date for top recruits to sign.
• NCAA rule changes, including a condensed transfer portal window, have further diminished the importance of the February date.
The first Wednesday in February remains a date on the recruiting calendar, but for the vast majority of FBS programs that’s about all it is. Another date.
The importance of National Signing Day started a downhill slide once the early signing period was introduced in 2017.
The NCAA changing rules this year, allowing for just one two-week window for players to enter their name into the transfer portal has further minimized the February date.
So here we are, quickly approaching a date that used to be one of the biggest on the calendar that now feels more like a footnote.
How did this happen and is there any way back?
December is the new National Signing Day
More than anything, still calling the first Wednesday in February “National Signing Day” for FBS programs is tradition rather than reality.
All but two of the players on the USA TODAY Florida Network top 100 signed in December. One who didn’t officially announce during the early signing period was Booker wide receiver Tyren Hornes, who signed with UCF but didn’t make it official until the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 2.
Again, this isn’t a new trend.
It’s been the standard since 2017 and it isn’t going to stop. The opportunity to get players on campus for the spring semester — and more specifically on the field for spring practice — has become the norm.
Between the enormous pull of NIL money and the allure of getting on the field and dominating early the way Chaminade-Madonna’s Jeremiah Smith and American Heritage’s Malachi Toney have done the past two seasons is strong.
Plus, there’s just the simple math of what benefit is there waiting until February to sign? It was a gamble before that seems even worse now.
The new transfer portal window adds more complication
The NCAA implemented a two week-window (Jan. 2-16) for players to enter their name into the transfer portal. Before this year, players had two windows to enter their name into the portal, one in December and the other in April after spring football ended.
Having just one portal window makes sense for colleges, but it’s also the biggest issue right now that is pushing February’s National Signing Day further onto the back burner.
In theory, players in the portal can sign any time they’d like. But to get new players into the system for spring practice, schools need to have portal additions enrolled for the spring semester. Even in the curious case of Darian Mensah leaving Duke for Miami in late January, is there any question whether or not the admissions office at Miami will make an exception to make sure he’s on campus as quick as possible?
Schools pretty much already have their rosters for the 2026 season set. They no longer have the April window to add final pieces, and few schools are looking to plug holes at this stage with a high school prospect who didn’t sign in December. It’s not to say there aren’t players capable, but it’s more about opportunity — or the lack thereof.
Even a year ago, this wasn’t the case.
Bill Belichick signed four players from Florida in February to join his first recruiting class at North Carolina.
Cocoa center Sandman Thompson signed with Florida State, and Middleburg’s BJ Carter signed with Iowa State. N.C. State was able to land Norland edge rusher Adrian Farrow. UCF, which didn’t have a coach during the early signing period in 2024, added Lakeland defensive lineman Trenton Turner in February.
There were other impact FBS signings from Florida on National Signing Day last year.
It would be a shock to see even half of those signings this time around.…Read more by Jon Santucci