The addition of the early signing period in December is only part of the change that has been made to the recruiting calendar.

A package of recruiting reforms that was approved by the NCAA Division I Council last April included a rule change that allows prospects to officially visit campuses in the spring before their senior year.

Prospects heading into their senior year can now take official visits from April 1 through the Sunday before the last Wednesday in June of the same year. Previously, official visits were not permitted before Sept. 1 of a prospect’s senior year. This change to the recruiting calendar is designed to go with the early signing period.

A recruit can make up to five official visits, which are paid for by the school. There is no restriction on the number of unofficial visits a prospect can make, but schools are not allowed to pay expenses for the trip.

While plenty of schools figure to conduct official visits this spring, Clemson won’t be among them according to head coach Dabo Swinney.

“We probably won’t do any, to be honest with you,” Swinney said Wednesday. “I don’t think we’ll do any official visits this spring. My big thing is, I’m not into the entertainment deal. If guys can’t get here unofficially, they’re probably not coming for four years.”

Swinney said it will be business as usual for the Tigers, who typically bring in a larger group of prospects for one major official visit weekend on a game weekend in the fall as well a few other prospects at various times during the season or after the season depending on their schedule.

Clemson also hosted several prospects for official visits in January this year ahead of National Signing Day.

While the Tigers are planning to stay away from spring official visits, they will continue to host prospects for unofficial visits in the spring per usual.

“My thing is, I want to get to know guys,” Swinney said. “So, we probably won’t do any officials. We’ll have a lot of unofficials, like we always have. We’re not going to change anything here at Clemson. We’re going to continue to operate the way we have, and if that means we lose out on some guys in the spring, then there will be plenty of guys left in the fall.”

Swinney wants to see prospects put forth the effort to make unofficial visits before the Tigers bring them in for official visits later in the process. Swinney feels prospects who take spring official visits may be tempted to commit earlier than they perhaps should, and he doesn’t see the need to accelerate the process.

“I want to see guys make an effort to come here,” Swinney said. “I want it to be important to them. Come to camp… I know if guys come in here, there’s a good chance they’re going to want to commit, and I want to know more about them.

“There’s a few guys that we’ve identified early that we’ve put offers out there already. But as far as that change in rule, I don’t see anything changing here at Clemson as far as how we go about our business. It’s great for some schools, but for us, it’s not a real big change for us.”