SALT LAKE CITY — A lot of things have become more complicated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with college recruiting no exception.
Much like the virus itself, along with the means used to mitigate it, the long-term recruiting effects aren’t readily known and could complicate things even further.
The NCAA recently elected to extend the so-called recruiting “dead period” until Dec. 31, which is two weeks beyond the first national letter of intent signing period, which remains scheduled for Dec. 16.
For a local recruit, such as Timpview High’s Logan Fano, it creates some difficulty and understandable frustration.
“It makes the recruiting process so much harder and I really feel as if it’s super unfair. I’ve been planning to graduate early and then leave for my mission, but them extending the dead period makes it much more difficult to be able to do it.” — Timpview High football player Logan Fano
“It makes the recruiting process so much harder and I really feel as if it’s super unfair,” Fano said. “I’ve been planning to graduate early and then leave for my mission, but them extending the dead period makes it much more difficult to be able to do it.”
Fano has had plans to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a while, and was looking to leave shortly following his planned December graduation.
In order to make his decision on where to sign, Fano was planning on taking several official visits to those recruiting him to learn firsthand what each program has to offer. The plan was to do as much prior to the December signing period in order to leave for his planned mission service as soon as possible.
“Not being able to do that now is tough,” Fano said. “It’s a huge decision and you want to make the decision for yourself and your future. But even though it makes the process more difficult, I still realize how blessed I am to have the opportunities I currently have. I’ll adjust and just go about it differently than planned while being mindful of how blessed I’ve been with every offer I’ve received.”
Blessed indeed, considering his impressive offer list.
As a 6-foot-4, 230-pound defensive end prospect, Fano claims offers from top schools around the country and recently trimmed his list of potential suitors to Utah, BYU, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Washington, Oklahoma and Virginia. Of those programs, he’s visited both BYU and Utah, along with Washington and Michigan, perhaps putting the other four at a disadvantage.
“You go about it in different ways, trying to find out everything you can, but yeah, it makes it tough to decide when not having the opportunity to see a program firsthand,” Fano said. “But like I said, I’ve adjusted and will soon be announcing my final four.”
Coaches’ perspective
Having to work around an extended dead period until the end of the calendar year is no picnic for college coaches, either.
In-person evaluation is perhaps the biggest casualty, forcing coaches to go much more by film evaluations, which can prove challenging.
“You normally look at film, and then sort of formulate your ideas,” said BYU defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki. “And then you try and go out and see those guys in person, and then confirm and then sometimes even say, ‘This kid isn’t what I saw on film.’ So not seeing someone in person takes away our ability to evaluate that way.”
Coaches are restricted from visiting high schools and junior colleges during dead periods, nor are they allowed to engage in person-to-person contact.
Furthermore, coaches are unable to entertain recruits on campus, which has some obvious drawbacks, perhaps particularly for a program as unique as BYU’s. Of course recruits can make unofficial visits to colleges they’re interested in, but can’t engage in any contact with representatives while there. Many recruits may also lack the resources to explore unofficial visit opportunities.
“There’s kids that are going to be signing without meeting you in person,” Tuiaki said. “That’s a little awkward, but with all the challenges, we’re still hoping to put together another good contributing class.”
January rush
Assuming the NCAA ends the dead period on Jan. 1, 2021, it could give way to one of the more intense final few weeks of the recruiting period ever seen, at least according to local experts.
“If they open up in January, then we’re almost definitely going to see a huge free-for-all,” said Utezone.com publisher Dan Sorensen. “I think you’re going to see a lot of movement with commitments and offers during that time, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”
The rush won’t be for just uncommitted recruits either, as big overtures will likely be made to those already committed who didn’t elect to sign during the early December period. Since the early December signing was instituted back in 2018, it’s become the primary signing period for most programs, although that will likely flip this year, according to Cougarsportsinsider.com publisher Jeff Hansen.
“I don’t think there’s much doubt that February will again become the main signing period again this year, or at least more prospects will sign in February than have over the past two years,” Hansen said. “Hopefully the dead period ends in January, but if it’s extended through January we’re looking at parents sending kids to programs they haven’t even seen in person, and that’s crazy to think about.”
Another factor in play is the potential scholarship crunch due to the NCAA’s decision to grant another year of eligibility to athletes who compete in fall sports. The decision is great for athletes currently under scholarship, but could affect this year’s crop of prospective scholarship athletes significantly, along with those in the near future.
“Either schools aren’t going to sign a full complement this year, or we’re going to see really, really small classes in 2022,” Sorensen said. “So there’s a whole lot of things we don’t know at this point, and there’s probably going to be a lot of unintended consequences from what the NCAA is doing and decides to do.”