It’s official – college football recruits can now sign with their school of choice in December.

The Collegiate Commissioners Association voted in favor of a 72-hour early signing period which will begin this year on Dec. 20. The NCAA Division 1 Council voted in favor of the change in April, but it required the approval of the commissioners association, which governs the National Letter of Intent program.

The new signing period is expected to lead to fewer last-minute flips on National Signing Day in February (Feb. 7, 2018 for the class of ’18). While coaching staffs will certainly like getting to complete committed prospect’s recruitment before Christmas, some feel that recruits might get stuck signing their NLI with a school only to have the head coach leave for another job.

December is a busy month on the coaching carousel. With the NFL regular season not ending until after Christmas, sometimes vacancies extend into the New Year.

When the NCAA voted in favor of early signing in April, Saturday Down South took a look at the winners and losers of the proposed change.