Kentucky coaches found early signing period helpful

College football's first early signing period wrapped up in December almost two months ago but coaches had to go through the whole 2018 cycle before they could reflect on how it impacted the way they did business.

Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow seem to agree: The December signing period was a success for Kentucky.

When the early signing period was initially floated as a proposal there was also a summer signing period floated as a possibility. December was a compromise, presumably one that the sport's biggest money-making programs (such as Alabama, Ohio State and others) wouldn't oppose too strongly. But it also did mark a substantive change from the way things used to work.

Wednesday was the traditional National Signing Day and it didn't have the same feel as previous events in early February.

Kentucky only added four signatures, as opposed to in the past when the university would announce the whole class that hadn't signed early.

With the benefit of hindsight and reflecting on how things played out, Mark Stoops said the early signing period worked well for Kentucky.

"Had a chance to kind of hit the reset button after the December signing period to see exactly what we needed for this February signing day, and hit the spots. That worked out very well for us," Stoops said.

Kentucky landed 20 signatures from its 21 verbal commitments in that early signing period. Only Xavier Peters opted not to sign early with the Wildcats, and he would go on to flip to Florida State. Meechi Harris decommitted from Kentucky just before that early signing period.

Putting together roughly four-fifths of their class a month and a half early helped Kentucky's coaches realize what positions were important.

Ultimately they added wide receiver Allen Dailey, offensive tackle Nick Lewis, linebacker Chris Oats and running back Kavosiey Smoke, leaving one spot unfilled and thus potentially more room for graduate transfer(s) that could make an immediate impact.

Three of the four players who signed late were at positions of need. Kentucky needed to bolster its depth at receiver, running back and linebacker. The addition of Lewis was more a case of taking a best available prospect, and one the staff has the luxury of developing with quality depth for the foreseeable future.

Stoops also said the early signing period allowed him to check out Class of 2019 prospects, which was especially helpful since NCAA rules prevent him from traveling to schools during the spring. Assistant coaches can be on the road during that time.

"Made for a very busy December, but it made for a better January for us. Overall, I'm very excited about it," he said.

Not surprisingly, on the same day that he landed a four-star linebacker, Marrow agreed. Kentucky's recruiting coordinator indicated that it was easier to invest the time and energy required into closing strong with Oats with so much of the class locked in already. His attention would have been more divided if he was worrying about making sure everyone else was still on track to sign.

"I think us signing and having 20 guys secured really played a factor in me going forward with Chris Oats," Marrow said. "When you are trying to get that type of kid, it is a constant that you have to recruit that kid every single day. If we didn’t have the early signing period, we would have probably been battling Ohio State with two more guys that we already have locked in. I really like it. You get most of your class signed and you focus on just four or five guys. I’ll take that anytime. The earlier you can get guys the better.”

Oats told Cats Illustrated on Wednesday that he made his decision for Kentucky about a week before the February 7th late signing date.

The early signing period also gave Kentucky's coaches, and coaches everywhere, a chance to really find out what players committed elsewhere might be worth recruiting. Lewis, the 6-foot-9, 350-pound Jacksonville, Fla., offensive tackle who signed with Kentucky, had been verbally committed to Washington State but opted to not sign with the Cougars in December.