New College Football Rules May Impact Texas Tech More Than Most

New college football rules limiting satellite camps and creating an early signing period for recruits could greatly impact the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2017 and beyond.

In recent weeks, the NCAA has taken major action on two issues that have been hotly debated within college football for some time. The new regulations (strict limits on satellite camps and the creation of an early signing period for high school recruits) could impact Texas Tech more than other programs.

The first rule change is an attempt to regulate the popular recruiting practice of holding satellite camps. Teams may now only hold these camps during June and July and they may not use more than 10 total days for these events.

In addition, these camps must be held on a college campus (rather than at high school facilities as has been the norm). This change is aimed at keeping schools with unlimited budgets (like Michigan, which recently angered many schools by holding satellite camps in virtually every recruiting hotbed in America) from making the summer into a recruiting barnstorming tour.

However, one school that will feel the fallout most is Texas Tech. Few major schools in the nation are located in a more geographically isolated area than is Tech.

Because of the low amount of quality recruits in the areas surrounding Lubbock, the coaching staff has annually held satellite camps in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and east Texas. This made it easier for the Texas Tech coaches and high school prospects to have face-to-face interactions.

It is far more difficult for players from Houston or Dallas to get to Lubbock than it is for them to get to Austin, Waco, College Station or Ft. Worth. Thus, Texas Tech will now have to partner with smaller universities in other parts of the state to hold joint camps.

This means that Texas Tech will be holding camps far away from their own facilities while their rivals will most likely be courting recruits on their home campuses allowing them to show off their facilities and everything the school has to offer.

Granted, Texas Tech was not able to showcase its campus to recruits under the old satellite camp rules. But, it is far more likely that centrally located schools will now begin to hold their camps on campus because that will not deter prospects from making the easy drive. Meanwhile, that will not be feasible for Texas Tech

So while Tom Herman will be showcasing the Texas Longhorns’ new locker room and Matt Rhule will be wooing recruits at Baylor’s new stadium, Texas Tech coaches will be hosting players at facilities that may be less luxurious than the high school facilities many prospects enjoyed previously.

Likewise, the creation of an early signing period may be a huge factor for Texas Tech this year. High school recruits are now allowed to sign their official letters of intent over the course of three days in December, just prior to the holiday dead period. The traditional signing day on the first Wednesday of February will be the next opportunity for players to sign.

At first glance, this would not seem to impact Texas Tech negatively. However, a closer look reveals the potential for disaster.

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With the earlier signing period, many prospects will be looking to commit to programs even earlier than they already do. It is far more likely that most recruits will commit before or during the season.

One must wonder how the uncertainty surrounding Kliff Kingsbury’s job status will jive with this new rule. Unless the Red Raiders jump out to an unexpected hot start and are solidly in the postseason picture by mid-season, Kingsbury’s fate is likely to be an unknown until late in the season or even after the year is over.

Will recruits interested in Texas Tech be patient enough to wait for confirmation about who will be the head coach in 2018? Or, will they chose to sign with schools that have a more stable head coaching situation?

Even worse, consider the impact this new rule will have if Texas Tech does decide to make a coaching change. Filling a coaching vacancy is almost impossible until the regular season is over. Prospective coaches are not going to leave their current teams in the middle of the season for new jobs.

Furthermore, it takes weeks for a new coach to assemble his entire staff. Assistant coaches are often the most active recruiters in a program and without them in place, recruiting is virtually impossible.

Thus, coaches hired to new positions will be at a severe disadvantage. They will no longer have at least a month to piece together a staff and recruiting class prior to signing day in February.

Rather, it is likely that a new coach will see the best prospects already off the board before the takes over at a new school. Should Kirby Hocutt chose to move on from Kingsbury, whichever coach he hires will be in an almost impossible situation when it comes to recruiting. Will this make athletic directors like Hocutt more anxious to make a move earlier in the season to give the program time to formulate a recruiting plan? It seems like a distinctly possibly and Kingsbury could be one of the first coaches impacted.

Next: Intangibles That Should Inspire The 2017 Texas Tech Football Team

The world of college football is changing and evolving more quickly than ever and these new rules will have every program adjusting how to proceed. Because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the Texas Tech football program, these rule changes could dramatically alter the course of the future for the Red Raiders.

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