The new signing period in college football, which was enacted Monday by the Collegiate Commissioners Association, comes with mixed feelings.

Group of 5 programs are likely jumping for joy that there will be a way to get prospects signed and off-limits to Power 5 programs looking to fill their recruiting classes after December.

In the 2016 class, there were 189 decommitments and flips from FBS prospects in the month of January alone. Plenty of those flips came from Group of 5 commitments who were receiving new attention from higher-level programs late in the process.

“There is a definite benefit for Group of 5 teams because they do not have to worry about their guys getting poached in January, when the Power 5 schools waiting on certain prospects learn they aren't landing the kid,” one Group of 5 coach said. “It forces the Power 5 schools to show their hands and make decisions on kids earlier in the calendar.”