Is the dead period, really dead

It’s Monday, Dec. 17, 2001. That means the dead period is here – but will it really be a dead period? Or will there still be plenty of recruiting news that breaks here over the next few weeks?

Seasoned recruiting fans know to expect a little bit of both over the next few weeks.

With the dead period starting at midnight this morning, college coaches can only contact recruits on the phone one time a week and can't make in-home visits until after the bowl season in early January.

It’s a rule the NCAA came up with for several reasons. Probably the biggest reason was that the NCAA didn’t want to punish teams that are playing in the bowl games and give an unfair advantage to those that aren’t.

Just imagine every team that is not bowl eligible getting a chance to go after some of the top recruits and make calls and visits to them, while the teams working hard for their games are unable to make those same in-home visits because of preparation. It’s just not fair, so the NCAA leveled the playing field.

Another big reason the NCAA came up with the dead period was to give the families and recruits themselves a break from the recruiting process. It’s been a wild ride for many of these recruits with literally hundreds of phone calls, letters and interviews from media outlets.

And with the Christmas and New Year coming, it’s time to be spent with family instead of being hounded by recruiters.

It’s called the dead period, so that means there shouldn’t be much news, right?

Wrong.

There are several key impact players that could pop over the next few weeks – including big timers like Alabama athlete Jason Allen.

Allen is set to announce his decision between Georgia, LSU and Tennessee later this week. His recruitment has been one of the most interesting to watch because he’s had his top three for quite some time but has been going back and forth between them for quite some time.

You can also expect another Southern player to make up his mind over the dead period. Ruston, La., standout defensive tackle Kyle Williams would like to finally get his decision between Tennessee and LSU out of the way, too.

And maybe one of the biggest fish out there is set to announce his decision any day now – linebacker Mike D’Andrea of Avon Lake, Ohio. D’Andrea got back from his final trip to Nebraska early in the weekend, so he could get one more round of calls and visits from the coaches.

Now after all of those visits and calls, the dead period has arrived and the coaches won’t be able to call or sway him one way or the other. Things are much quieter around the D’Andrea household, so it’s time for him to sit down with his family and make a decision.

Now the only question will be where he ends up at?

A number of blue chip Texans and Californians, as well as others across the country, are in the exact same boat as D'Andrea, Allen and Williams.

So sure it might be called the dead period and coaches won’t be making visits or in-homes of recruits, but expect a wild ride the next few weeks and The Rivals100.com Recruiting Network will be here to bring you all of the news.