Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA recently extended the recruiting dead period through May 31.

That essentially means that the all-important spring evaluation period is gone.

And it also means a lot of canceled visits.

In terms of recruiting, this is devastating for the Tennessee Vols and other programs not named Alabama, Clemson or LSU.

Sure, coaches can talk to recruits via phone/Facetime right now, but it's not the same as getting a recruit on campus. The dead period will eventually end (hopefully sooner than later), but the damage from the lost in-person recruiting opportunities will be done.

With the early signing period in December, it means schools will have a very limited amount of time to leave an impression on top recruits.

Tennessee currently has nine players committed to their 2021 recruiting class. That means they still have around 15 or 16 spots to fill. And most of those spots are typically filled during the early signing period. There usually aren't a lot of top recruits left on UT's board by the time the traditional signing day rolls around in February.

Perhaps more players will put off their decision until February this year, because of the unique circumstances. But I still imagine the bulk of talented recruits will look to sign in December.

That's why I think the NCAA needs to nix the early signing period — for this recruiting cycle only — to at least level the playing field a bit.

This is an idea that was mentioned recently by Rivals recruiting analyst Mike Farrell.

Farrell also suggested that the NCAA should allow official visits during the summer and two more official visits (for a total of seven) for recruits.

I think those are good ideas, too. But the main thing is dropping the early signing period, to keep things as fair as possible for the non-elite programs.

There's also another reason the NCAA should cancel the early signing period this year. It's possible that games get backed up a bit, if things aren't better by late summer. If that happens, we'd still have games being played during the early signing period, which wouldn't be ideal.

It really doesn't make much sense to have the early signing period this year. But the NCAA rarely makes decisions that make sense, so I'd be surprised if they actually did the right thing and made the necessary changes.

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