New football National Football Signing Day approved for Class of 2018

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Only three of these 10 have committed, but how many will sign in December?

It's official. National Football Signing Day will be different.

On Monday, as expected, the Collegiate Commissioners Association approved an early football signing period to run from Dec. 20-22.

The 72-hour early period allows high school seniors to secure binding commitments more than a month before the regular signing time, the first Wednesday in February. In 2018, that is Feb. 7.

The early signing window is a model laid out in men's college basketball, which allows early commitments in November.

Many believe there is too much fanfare and attention paid to the February day. More importantly, according to Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, the recruiting process will slow down.

"You're going to see some of these early offers slow down because if a guy is committed, you're going to expect them to sign so you better be sure you're offering someone you want," he told CBSSports columnist Jon Solomon.

Some think Swinney is off base, that the process will instead speed up.

With an earlier date, many recruits will want to move faster and surely coaches will be accommodating, which could lead to hasty, ill-advised offers.

One positive seen in the change is recruits will have the pressure of signing completed earlier — before Christmas — allowing them to relax during the holidays.

The new format also allows high school recruits to visit colleges earlier during their junior year — April 1 — starting in 2018 for the Class of 2019. That also may help in reaching decisions earlier.

But is that a good thing?

A definite negative is that college coaching changes often take place after the season, which usually occurs after Dec. 22. A player who signs early may wind up being committed to a school without a coach — one they thought they were going to play for.

Clearly, the uncommitted lists will become shorter come Feb. 7. If 50 percent of recruits sign earlier, that means less spots are available, obviously, during the regular signing period. That could cause even more stress for those who procrastinate on a tough decision.