College Football Begins Anew: National Signing Day

California native Matt Barkley was ESPN's number one ranked college football prospect for the freshman class of 2009. Barkley decided to finish high school early and enrolled in USC for January 2009, just in time for spring training. The number one prospect was able to skip the media frenzy and fan holiday that is February 4th, 2009.

February 4th marks National Signing Day for college football and many other collegiate level sports for 2009, a day that every year becomes a larger event and seems to invite more media. This is the earliest day that a high school athlete can sign a binding National Letter of Intent with the school and program of their choosing. National Signing Day is beginning to appear more like any other draft pick day for professional sports teams, and the process leading up to it is equally as intense for many top high school athletes.

Countless high school athletes work their entire young career in order to gain the attention of a few college scouts. The National College Scouting Association even offers step-by-step guides on how an athlete can gain the attention of a college scout. But rarely do the big stories of National Signing Day come from this level of athlete. The athletes at the center of the stories enjoy a different process entirely.

A recent New York Times article chronicled the life leading up to National Signing Day for one exceptional high school football star, Jamarkus McFarland. McFarland and his mother's days became filled with college tours and in home visits, a bombardment of emails as well as being wined and dined by one school or another with other perks offered to him the likes of which he could not believe. All of this was done with hopes of McFarland signing with one athletic powerhouse college over another, most specifically in his case Oklahoma versus Texas. The story showcases that not only are these colleges big time rivals on the field, but increasingly off the field in what has become a sort of bidding war to attract the brightest young talent.

These schools are competing with each other to attract the biggest names in high school sports to try to ensure a winning record for their team as well as to appease their alumni. The process can be intense and a lot for a young athlete to handle, so there are very specific rules as to the recruiting process.

However, National Signing Day is far from a day simply focused on the future of college teams. Many high school level stars are holding their own press conferences for the event of signing their letter of intent some of which have been nationally televised. These press conferences promise athletes visibility like they have never had before and serve the obvious purpose of informing a college program if they will be signing with them. Though many athletes may give a verbal promise to a school, there is no binding agreement until a letter of intent is signed, and the young athlete can wait until the very last minute to make a decision before vowing his allegiance. Most signings offer little surprise as to the team an athlete will choose, as many give a verbal agreement or show strong allegiance long before National Signing Day. But, it is not unheard for an athlete to flip the script on a team that has been courting them heavily and is seemingly leaning towards. So was the case of Antonio Logan-El, who prior to National Signing Day 2006 had committed to the University of Maryland verbally and went so far as to wear Terp red at his own press conference, before revealing that he was signing with Penn State, shocking Maryland fans and coaches alike.

National Signing Day 2009 will no doubt be filled with similar tales. It begins a new year of stories and promise for many college football programs.


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