Texas HC Steve Sarkisian and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko United face a new recruiting proposal.
Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas A&M Aggies coach Mike Elko, along with a number of other head coaches in the state, agree on one thing.
There are few things that Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies agree on these days.
Especially now that the Longhorns have infiltrated the SEC, where the Aggies have been working to build their own identity for more than a decade.
However, during the Texas High School Coaches Association Convention on Monday in San Antonio, it became evident that Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian and Aggies coach Mike Elko agreed on one point: they opposed bringing up Early Signing Day.
The proposed regulation, which would have shifted Early Signing Day from December to June – before the start of prospects’ senior seasons – was postponed by college commissioners in June, implying that the discussions might return at some time.
When asked about the possibly groundbreaking new policy, both coaches strongly opposed it.
“I’m a little bit more hesitant maybe than others to have a signing date in the summer when you are not giving kids the chance to play their senior year of high school football,” Sarkisian told me. “I believe you learn a lot about guys during their senior year. We are still evaluating the tape heading into the senior season… Development is crucial from ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades.
Elko mirrored Sarkisian Sentiments, but also raised a different point of contention.
According to Elko, the passage of such a law may permanently alter high school football, resulting in a large number of prospects reclassifying and departing for college a year early.
Elko is fiercely opposed to such a concept.
“I am 1,000% opposed to that,” Elko stated. “If you add a summer signing date, I believe you run the risk of encouraging more students to reclassify and skip their senior year of high school.” When we pushed the signing period to December, 80 percent of the students enrolled in the spring. If you project that out and extend the signing deadline to June, I believe that over the next three, four, or five years, 50, 60, or 70 percent of the students will reclassify.”
Fortunately, there is no schedule for the proposed rule’s reinstatement, and it appears that the present calendar will remain in place for at least the next year or two.
According to Sarkisian, this is ideal for the high school athletes themselves.
“I kind of like the calendar that we’re having this year, with that signing period in early December and then you get into the portal,” Sarkisian told me. “I still believe we are defending the high school athlete. Last year, the high school player was not protected since the signing date was in the middle of December, and when the portal opened, some schools dropped high school students to take the portal youngster.”
