MORGANTOWN -
Many people mark holidays and birthdays on their calendars.
College football coaches typically circle one day on their calendar and that is
National Signing Day.
Signing Day is set for February 1. That is the day most
college football prospects finalize their college choices.
Coaches spend that day working the phones to answer any last
questions a recruit may have before making their decision. They also pay close
attention to the fax machine and eagerly wait for those signed letters of
intent to roll in.
West Virginia University has received a lot of verbal
commitments this year and appears poised to welcome in a big class of recruits.
But, those verbal commitments mean very little until they are followed up by
signed letters of intent.
WVU Head Coach Dana Holgorsen and his staff have spent the
past year working on the 2012 recruiting class.
"Recruiting is a year long process," Holgorsen said. "Some
of the guys have been committed a long time and some of the guys are in here
right now. We're ready to put some closure on it."
Holgorsen was referring to some of the recruits visiting
Morgantown last weekend. Those recruits attended the basketball game and saw
West Virginia beat Cincinnati 77-74 in overtime in front of a sold out crowd.
"This is a great weekend and one of our last weekends,"
Holgorsen said. "To be able to bring them to a game like this in this kind of
atmosphere really helps, there is no question."
Those recruits also saw the football team honored at
halftime for its 70-33 victory over Clemson in the Orange Bowl. That
record-setting win has generated even more interest in the program during the
final month of the 2012 recruiting season.
"It's been going good and since the bowl game was over it
has created a lot of energy and given us a big push at the end," Holgorsen
stated.
The added interest is not just from offensive players who
saw Geno Smith pass for six touchdowns and Tavon Austin catch four touchdown
passes.
"There are a lot of people that were watching that,"
Holgorsen stated. "That's not just offense. You don't score 70 points just
because of offense. You don't win like that and put on a performance like that
on one side, you got to do it on all three."
Holgorsen had five players enroll early. That is significant
for two reasons. Those five players will be able to participate in spring
practice. They also count against the 2011 recruiting class, which had plenty
of open scholarships available that would have gone unused.
"You got to use your scholarships," Holgorsen said firmly. "If
you don't use them then you lose them. We've been talking about this since I
got here that our numbers are down. We are only up to about 72, which when you
get 85 we are talking about I-AA numbers. We got five in that count backwards
and then we'll be able to sign a full class of 25 in addition to the five guys
that are already here."
Basketball coaches get to enjoy an early signing period. It
is a window of time that college prospects can sign letters of intent early and
go on and enjoy the remainder of their senior seasons. Football does not have
an early signing period.
"It would make things easier for us," Holgorsen said. "I
doubt it will ever happen. There is something to be said about watching these
kids in their senior year. Recruiting has gotten so early that an early signing
day would make our job easier, but don't underestimate the importance of
watching a kid in his senior year and watching them develop and making
decisions based on that."
The countdown continues at the Puskar Center and at college
football facilities around the country. One week and counting until decision
day for many college prospects including those planning to call themselves
future Mountaineers.
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