Georgia coach Mark Richt has misgivings about proposed early signing period

Mark Richt said he fears that an early signing period will push too much recruiting into the season. (John Bazemore/AP) Along with Stanford's David Shaw,

Mark Richt said he fears that an early signing period will push too much recruiting into the season. (John Bazemore/AP)

Along with Stanford's David Shaw, Georgia coach Mark Richt doesn't seem to be the biggest fan of a proposed early signing period, which will be discussed by the NCAA over the summer. Announced on Friday, the proposal would allow prospects to sign with schools during the summer before their senior year of high school.

Richt said that coaches should "be careful what we ask for" when it comes to the early signing period.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

“I always say ‘Be careful what we ask for’ because I don’t know what that will do to our recruiting calendar. I think there’s some sanity to it right now. I think if everybody plays by the same rules, then it’s good as it is. I’d be afraid to change it. I don’t want to turn the regular season into such a recruiting frenzy that you can’t even coach your team on a weekly basis. I enjoy coaching football, too.

[...]

“I think we’ve got a pretty good setup now. No matter what system you use, there’s going to be some bugs in it, and there’s going to be some things you don’t like about it. That’s why I say ‘Be careful what you ask for' because if you do that, what’s going to be the aftermath? That’s what I’m worried about. I can’t even say what it’s going to be, but I’ve got a feeling it will be like ‘Why in the world did we do that?’”

Richt's comments come on the heels of Shaw's public criticism of the proposal. Via Kyle Bonagura of ESPN.com, Shaw said: "I might be alone in this, I think it's terrible. I think it's terrible. The reason [for an early signing period], in my opinion, is coaches don't like when kids commit and switch late."