National Signing Day Isn’t What It Used to Be — And That’s a Shame

Earlier this week was National Signing Day.

I know some of you probably just realized that reading this.

That’s right, February 4, 2026, would have been a magical day. There was a time when that date would have carried real weight in college football. Ten, fifteen years ago, National Signing Day felt like a holiday. Fax machines were firing up at 7 a.m. Televisions were locked on ESPNU. Fans were “working,” but not really working. You were refreshing pages nonstop — F5, F5 — waiting to see where the next name would land.

This past Wednesday, it barely registered.

That’s not just a Clemson thing. It’s everywhere.

National Signing Day has gone from one of the most anticipated days on the college football calendar to, quite frankly, one of the most insignificant. That’s hard to believe if you lived through what it once was, but it’s the reality of the sport right now.

The reason is pretty simple. The early signing period changed everything. Most prospects, especially the ones fans care about, signed back in December. By the time February rolls around, the mystery is gone. The drama is gone.

Add the transfer portal into the mix, and National Signing Day becomes more about roster maintenance than celebrating the future. Teams aren’t holding out hope for late surprises. They’re trying to make sure they have enough bodies, enough depth, and enough flexibility to survive the constant churn.

That’s why I said on the show Wednesday that I’d be willing to bet about 75 percent of the audience didn’t even realize it was National Signing Day until it was mentioned.

And when you stop and think about that, it’s wild.

National Signing Day used to feel like a turning point. A momentum shift. A reset button for fan bases. One commitment could swing the mood of an entire offseason.

Now, it’s not even ceremonial.

That doesn’t mean recruiting doesn’t matter after the early signing period; it absolutely does, but what was once the key day in building your future no longer defines the process. December does. The portal does. NIL does. February is often just about filling gaps created by a system that never stops moving.

I think that’s a shame.

Not because change is bad — change is inevitable — but because something meaningful has been lost. We didn’t just change when players sign. We changed the emotional rhythm of the sport. A day that once unified fans across the country now passes with little notice.

National Signing Day still exists on the calendar.

It just doesn’t exist the way it used to.

And whether we want to admit it or not, that says a lot about where college football is right now.