Recruiting dead period extended in Division I

The Division I Council Coordination Committee recently met to discuss the recruiting dead period, coming to the agreement to extend the period through June 30 this past week.

That, of course, aligns with the already-set dead period from July 1 to July 24, meaning that if they don’t alter the dates anymore, the dead period is set to go all the way from now until July 24, making it significantly difficult for coaches to recruit for their sports.

For football programs likes Chip Kelly’s UCLA Bruins, that means the in-person visits from rising senior prospects has been vacated. It also means no in-home visits from Kelly and his staff.

Football has arguably been hit the hardest as this is the vital point of the year that coaches are hot on the recruiting trail and receiving pledges left and right. Vital for those coaches who do it the old-school way of meeting a recruit’s entire family. Apparently vital for Kelly who has received just two commitments this offseason, compared to say, USC’s 11 commitments.

UCLA’s class currently ranks 80th in the nation and ninth in the conference, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better with the dead period’s extension.

The early signing day period is also going to likely be hit hard as the majority of players who signed their national letters of intent, committed during the summer or at least were able to get to campuses in the summer. The new extension aligns perfectly to create a dead period up until the last week of July, which is right around the time that coaches should be preparing for fall camp and athletes should be preparing for their fall semesters.

The committee, of course, can also alter the already-set dead period time frame and perhaps even alter it to allow for missed time, but that all remains to be seen.