The football recruiting dead period is being extended to April 15, according to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. It’s expected that the NCAA Council will approve the move during a meeting on Nov. 18.

The dead period was currently extended to Jan. 1, but COVID-19 has forced the date to be moved multiple times. The dead period was first extended in March after the NCAA Tournament and spring sports were cancelled.

By virtue of this new extension, it will mean that coaches won’t meet in person with recruits for over a year. Coaches have taken to Zoom as the alternate in these unprecedented times and some tout the technology as a game saver.

“It’s as good as it can be without actually being here,” Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said to CBS Sports. “I will say Zoom has saved us. It’s just more personal than it is on the phone or Facetime. I definitely think it will be involved in the future.”

For some other coaches though, they cite the diminished ability to sell their program as one of the major concerns in the immediate future.

“[But] it’s hard for me in a Zoom presentation to show what standing in the middle of The Swamp is like. … You’re down here in Florida, November, December, January, February, it’s palm trees. The actual beauty of our campus. You don’t get that in a Zoom call,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said to CBS Sports. “…I wonder, in the future, do they even let the coaches ever out on the road again?”

The Early Signing Period and National Signing Day will remain in December and February, respectively. Additionally, college basketball is also considering implementing a similar dead period at the conclusion of their championship tournaments.