It used to be that the energy and excitement around college football offices across the nation this week used to be palpable.
National Signing Day or National Letter Intent Day was serious business because that’s how great football programs were built. High school football talent was the lifeblood of programs and fans and alumni couldn’t wait to see the haul the football coaches got for the upcoming football season and beyond.
But National Signing Day is Feb. 5, and there’s just not the same anticipation as there once was. We have the NCAA Transfer Portal and other odd decisions to thank for that.
There used to be a couple of office workers or assistant coaches assigned to man the fax machine. There probably wasn’t anyone standing around this fax machine when National Signing Day began this period, which now extends through high school graduation. Most top-notch high school football talents have already signed during the early period from Dec. 18-20.
But the real game changer for National Signing Day has been the transfer portal where student-athletes can move freely from school to school, sometimes for more playing time, but more often for better-paying Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals. Coaches are no longer judged by the high school talent they can develop, but more so by the already developed talent they can take from other college programs.
Schools like the University of Houston, Texas A&M and the University of Texas will certainly add their share of high school talent to their rosters for the 2025 Class, but that’s for the future. The excitement is around the more experienced players who are coming aboard.
UH has 19 players coming in via the transfer portal, including Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman, who is almost certainly coming in as a Day 1 starter for the Cougars. Texas A&M will have 14 new players from the transfer portal, including UT tight end Amari Niblack and former 4-star UH recruit and DeKaney High School product Jonah Wilson, who gives the Aggies another legit receiving threat.
Texas Tech also added former UH defensive lineman Anthony Holmes from the transfer portal this offseason. Holmes spent the last three years on the Cougars’ defensive front.
We just watched the National Championship Game between Notre Dame and Ohio State, and both teams featured quarterbacks who had played for other college teams a year earlier.
National Signing Day will always be special for the high school players who commit to a school and program, but the energy and excitement for them just aren’t the same.
