An early-signing period in college football is no longer pending. It's official.

Monday, the Collegiate Commissioners Association approved a 72-hour early-signing period beginning December 20, 2017 that allows student athletes to sign their National Letter of Intent. Previously, high school seniors who were not enrolling early had to wait until February of their senior year to sign.

The NCAA Division I Council approved an early signing period in April, but the CCA, which runs the National Letter of Intent program, needed to OK the changes for them to be enacted. With the CCA’s approval, the college football recruiting calendar is now forever altered.

The new signing period will run from December 20-22 in addition to the standard National Signing Day that occurs the first Wednesday of February each year. The early signing period will align with the current December window for junior college transfers to sign.

With the change in the recruiting calendar, recruits now have the option to sign in December or in February.

The early signing period is one of a number of prominent pieces of legislation the Division I Council approved earlier this year. Others included a 10th full-time assistant, a change in the official visit schedule with an additional window from April to June, which goes into effect April 1, 2018, and changes in the way offseason camps are conducted.

Said Division I Council Chair Jim Phillips in April of the wide-sweeping changes: “It really is a historic and transformative day.”