Read more on signings
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A year from now Landon Rice plans to be enrolled in the college of his choosing, earning early credits and getting acquainted with the football program.
What the Calhoun High School junior defensive end and tight end wants to do is hardly anything new. Big-time programs regularly welcome early enrollees as a way to speed up their development and help manage class numbers. However, if a recent NCAA proposal gets voted in, the process could be much easier for both school and athlete.
The proposal would allow 12th-grade football players to end their recruitment seven weeks earlier this coming season and officially sign with college programs. The reasoning behind the proposal is simple: It would spare kids who are truly committed the harassment of recruiters from other schools, and it would save football coaches and programs untold hours and dollars in fending off rivals for their commitments and in chasing some prospects they have no chance to get.
For Rice, a 6-foot-6, 250-pounder who is one of the state's hottest 2016 prospects, it really doesn't change his plan, though he admits he's in favor of the proposal.
"I'm planning on graduating early and getting to wherever I am going to enroll early," he said. "As far as recruiting is concerned, I'm loving it. It's a great process and I'm very blessed to get the offers I have."
Rice has been committed to Auburn since November of 2013. However, in the six weeks since Calhoun won the Georgia Class AAA championship he has received offers from SEC members Georgia and Alabama in addition to ACC runner-up Georgia Tech. He was visited in the last couple of weeks by Florida and Mississippi State coaches, causing Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn also to take a trip to Calhoun to check on his prospect.
Rice has gone from being a nice prospect to No. 39 in the state according to 247Sports.com and is No. 33 by Rivals.com. In other words, he's red-hot and likely to get hotter, the kind of prospect who is likely to be hounded to the last moment -- or until he can officially end the process. Calhoun coach Hal Lamb is strongly in favor of the early-signing proposal.
"I would like it. I think it would cut out a lot of mess with kids wavering back and forth," said Lamb, whose program gained national attention when Da'Rick Rogers and Nash Nance changed their minds in 2010. "If it gets voted in, when they sign that deal it's a done deal. It would be easier on the kids and the coaches.
"As it is, the process takes away a lot from the kids, and when you put a lot of pressure on 16-, 17- and 18-year-old kids it can really affect them."
As proposed, athletes could sign during a 72-hour window in December, and if voted in the early period would be a two-year trial period. College coaches have mostly voiced approval of the period, including the staff at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
"I think it's a great idea," said UTC recruiting coordinator Will Healy. "For one, you won't see as many decommits at the last minute. Secondly, it allows players to be more realistic with who is actually recruiting them. Guys that we're recruiting won't think Alabama and Auburn are coming in late."
Of course, there are some potential sticking points. What happens if a kid signs with a program in December and either his position coach or the head coach leaves? Does it punish late-rising seniors?
"I definitely see the pros and cons," said Dalton High School coach Matt Land. "For us, there are a lot of kids that go into that last year knowing where they want to go and would like the assurity of getting that done. There's a lot of kids that need their senior year to increase their stock. I don't know if that would hurt them or not."
"At Dalton, when we commit we're committed. It's like a marriage. The problem is, I allow my guys to decommit if their position coach or head coach leaves. If you take a commitment from one of my kids and then either take another job or get fired, it's not fair to the kid and they should be allowed to decommit then."
Like this year's college football playoff, the potential early signing period is viewed in large part as a starting point. If the proposal is voted in and proves to be popular, adjustments surely would follow, including the possibility of a summer period for rising seniors.
"For coaches," said Calhoun's Lamb, "the earlier the better. I would love it if the kids had the opportunity to officially choose a program before their senior season starts. I've seen the stress it can put on them and their families."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.