I think that the idea behind giving athletes the right to verbally commit to a college in advance to signing day is a good idea. This gives college coaches and even the athlete a little bit of a relief. College coaches like having their athletes verbally committed in advance because it makes it easier for the coaches to continue recruiting of other players.

Many top notch athletes tend to verbally commit early in their high school years. An athlete knowing that they have a school to go to is a nice comforting feeling for them. This doesn't mean that athletes who have verbally committed are guaranteed to attend that specific school. When a player verbally commits to a school they still have requirements and standards in which the coach holds them responsible for. An athlete can loose their commitment due to many different reasons; their grades drop too low, they start having poor performances on the field, or the player gets in trouble. There are a lot more ways people get their commitment stripped but these are the most common reasons. This being said athletes who have verbally committed still need to keep their grades up, work hard on and off the field, and perform well in order to keep their spot on the roster.

On the flip side; it is not always the coach who has the final say in where the player ends up actually going to school. What I mean by this is that every year, in all college sports, athletes will verbally commit to a school in which turns out not to be the best fit for them. At any point in time the player can take their commitment back and decide to go elsewhere. This is just like how a college coach can take away his commitment to the player.