A bunch of new rule changes are set to take effect this football season, and Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez appears to be not-so-enthusiastic about some of the key changes. Rodriguez took aim at the new recruiting guidelines that include an early signing period in December and new rules regarding official visits. He was not complimentary, according to quotes provided by the Arizona Daily Star.
“December’s better than February, but it doesn’t solve the problems,” Rodriguez said when reacting to the addition of an early signing period in December. “I still think it makes more sense to have no signing day. I was one that voted against the December one, because I think there should be none.”
Rodriguez has been in favor of having no official signing day and instead allowing student-athletes to sign with a team whenever they are ready to do so. It remains to be seen just how much of an impact an early signing period will truly have on the game, but the expansion of the dates recruits can make official visits (beginning April 1 of recruit’s junior year, ending in late June) could be a negative change for a school’s budget, warns Rodriguez.
“Right now, you’re allowed 56 official visits. We only use 36. So we save the school money,” Rodriguez said of Arizona’s approach to official visits. “You kind of zero in on the guys you know (will come) by the time the official visits come. Now everybody’s going to use 56, because it’s so early in the process. So it’s going to cost schools more money.”
In addition to having concerns about how much schools will spend on additional official visits, Rodriguez also suggests the time is taken away from assistant coaches will take a toll.
“The life of an assistant and the work that they do now is already pretty hectic. Which is OK; they get paid well,” Rodriguez said. “But to have official visits in those months is way too much to ask for kids, coaches and schools. I think it’s a bad idea.”
When the acting president of the American Football Coaches Association comes out with this kind of reaction to the new rules, you cannot help but wonder how many other coaches feel the same way.