Sports

Bo Pelini Offers Solution to Slow Down Recruiting Process in College Football: Nix National Signing Day

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Bo Pelini, head football coach at the University of Nebraska, has offered a solution to slow down the recruiting process in college football: eliminate National Signing Day.

According to ESPN, the Cornhuskers coach said high school players should be able to accept scholarship offers as they come in. He said this is also a good way to cause schools to be more accountable when offering scholarships to high school freshmen and sophomores.

"If somebody has offered a kid, let him sign, it's over," Pelini told ESPN Wednesday. "That will stop some of the things that are happening - people just throwing out offers, some of them with really no intention of taking a kid."

The NCAA is considering holding an early signing day, in either Dec. or Aug. for recruits to commit to a school earlier. Like Pelini, Maryland coach Randy Edsall and several other coaches want to see the recruiting process slow down so they can devote more time to evaluating high school prospects.

"Make [the offer] mean something," Pelini said. "People will be like, 'Whoa, I've got to take this kid now.' It will slow things down for the kids, for the institutions. There will be less mistakes.

"Why does there have to be one specific day? And it will get rid of some of the stuff that goes on, kids pulling the hats and so forth."

Pelini said he has not made a formal proposal, but he has talked about his idea with other coaches. However, he is not optimistic that it would be adopted because current recruiting rules and practices have been in place for years. National Signing Day is also a televised event that gives exposure to the NCAA, schools and student-athletes.

"Things would slow down dramatically," Pelini said. "Some of these kids get 60 offers. Some of these people don't even know who a kid is. The whole thing gets watered down. There's no way some [team] can take that many guys."

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