[OutsiderFan]

Yep. What the coach sees as Power 5 schools "snatching" his recruits is really players getting the opportunity to prove themselves at bigger programs, and getting educations at generally more highly-regarded (or at least higher-profile) universities. No more.

I was expecting the early signing period to be much more brutal on Stanford, in particular, but it seems that admissions was able to make decisions earlier for these kids.  Perhaps there were a few that might have gotten in around the time of the Big Visit who had already signed this year, but I don't know.  I still believe that, at the margins, the early signing period will hurt Stanford because someone waiting on an admissions decision can no longer mollify the coaching staff at his runner-up school by being verbally committed to them. Instead, that student will face the choice between an uncertain future at Stanford and signing on dotted line with another school that he likes, albeit not quite as much. But with the one data point we have--this past signing cycle--perhaps that situation won't be as damaging as I thought.

Remember, you don't get early signing without earlier official visits. I think Stanford is helped more by early official visits than hurt by early signing period.

[OutsiderFan]

Yep. What the coach sees as Power 5 schools "snatching" his recruits is really players getting the opportunity to prove themselves at bigger programs, and getting educations at generally more highly-regarded (or at least higher-profile) universities. No more.

I was expecting the early signing period to be much more brutal on Stanford, in particular, but it seems that admissions was able to make decisions earlier for these kids.  Perhaps there were a few that might have gotten in around the time of the Big Visit who had already signed this year, but I don't know.  I still believe that, at the margins, the early signing period will hurt Stanford because someone waiting on an admissions decision can no longer mollify the coaching staff at his runner-up school by being verbally committed to them. Instead, that student will face the choice between an uncertain future at Stanford and signing on dotted line with another school that he likes, albeit not quite as much. But with the one data point we have--this past signing cycle--perhaps that situation won't be as damaging as I thought.

Remember, you don't get early signing without earlier official visits. I think Stanford is helped more by early official visits than hurt by early signing period.