MAC Media Day: Commissioner talks early signing period, satellite camps
Mid-American Conference Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher addresses media members July 29, 2015 at MAC Media Day at Ford Field (Photo courtesy of Mid-American Conference).
DETROIT— Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher opened the MAC Football Media Day on Thursday at Ford Field addressing the nuances of recruitment.
Two of the main questions within the college football universe are adding the early signing period and the handling of satellite camps.
Steinbrecher said everything involving recruitment revolved around the early signing period question.
Last year, the Collegiate Commissioners Association had a working group that recommended the additional signing period be placed in December to coincide with the Junior College signing period.
The CCA eventually decided to hold off on the decision to add a new signing day until a more comprehensive review of recruiting was done.
“We know that many recruits are making commitments early,” Steinbrecher said. “Many before the beginning of (their) senior season, and almost all before the conclusion of their senior season.”
While there is no timetable for an early signing date, Steinbrecher said he would like to see one implemented in the near future.
“While there is no perfect early signing period date, I am confident we can find a date and adjust the recruiting calendar to provide a more positive and productive recruiting experience for the prospects and provide coaches with a better work-life balance, and help minimize third-party influences,” he said.
MAC schools could possibly benefit from an early signing day in conjunction with National Signing Day during the first week of February.
When Power 5 schools miss out on top-rated recruits, the MAC is one of the places they look to fill their recruiting holes.
Adding a time before the day February could provide teams like CMU to secure players instead of having them plucked away from bigger universities.
CMU Head Coach John Bonamego said adding the early signing period would help the Chippewas, but not dramatically.
“We’ll play by the rules however anybody decides,” Bonamego said. “It definitely would benefit us. I don’t have a super strong feeling either way. If we get it, great, if not, that’s not going to break my heart either.”
After the NCAA overturned its ban on satellite camps earlier this year, Steinbrecher said work still needed to be done to ensure that the camps were being conducted in a fair manner.
“The football recruiting calendar, and summer camps institutional and satellite, are receiving a great deal of review by the NCAA governing structure, coaches groups and media,” he said.
Despite Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh creating a frenzy and rubbing some coaches the wrong way his usage of satellite camps, Steinbrecher said the camps have actually been around for a long time.
“Satellite camps are not a new phenomenon,” he said. “But due to some rather highly publicized camps, more attention and scrutiny—some of it well deserved—is being giving to these topics.”
Steinbrecher said he is for reducing the time frame in which satellite camps are held to a 15-day window during the summer.
He added only coaches who have recruiting responsibility should be allowed to run them and the hours coaches spend during the camps should count towards their days of evaluation under the recruiting calendar.
Finally, Steinbrecher said he would like to see satellite camps held on the grounds of four-year institutions and not at high schools. Further discussions on satellite camps will continue in the future.
