Nobody is going to force the kids to sign early, it'll just be an option when the kid is serious about his commitment. IMO, it's a win-win.
Win for the program who got in early on a kid and got him to commit, no fear of him being stolen by the biggest programs when their options A-D fall through.
Win for the kid because he has a chance to secure his spot on the team. UCF doesn't do it, but lots of coaches out there have smaller ranked kids committed for some time only to pull their offer late when they start to rack up higher end kids. This prevents the coach from doing that to them.