What Can We Make of The NCAAF Transfer Portal?

What Can We Make of The NCAAF Transfer Portal??

In a new era of college football where the talent pool is deep and players want the chance to showcase their skills as soon and often as possible, the transfer portal is here.  Like free agents, players who are unhappy can stay at their current schools while being wooed by other ones with the potential of transferring and playing with them the next year.  The portal, which is basically a spreadsheet with the player's names, is going to change how coaches and schools recruit, but also how they keep their players happy.

"Beginning in October, Division I student-athletes will have the ability to transfer to a different school and receive a scholarship without asking their current school for permission," the NCAA announced in July. "The Division I Council adopted a proposal this week that creates a new 'notification-of-transfer' model. This new system allows a student to inform his or her current school of a desire to transfer, then requires that school to enter the student’s name into a national transfer database within two business days. Once the student-athletes name is in the database, other coaches are free to contact that individual ... "

"The previous transfer rule, which required student-athletes to get permission from their current school to contact another school before they can receive a scholarship after transfer, was intended to discourage coaches from recruiting student-athletes from other Division I schools. The rule change ends the controversial practice in which some coaches or administrators would prevent students from having contact with specific schools."

At first sight, the transfer portal seems like a great idea and an opportunity for players and schools alike to continuously compete for players and exposure, but there have to be negatives right?  

(Photo by 247sports.com)

The Good:  There are a lot of reasons why I like this program put forward by the NCAA.  It gives players more control over their playing careers and allows them to continue to compete for playing time.  With only a few years to prove they can make it in the NFL, players need to be on the field as much as possible. Now if you are beat out in camp and think you can go play somewhere else, it’s possible.  It also allows schools to find players to replace ones that have left to the NFL or have signed up with the new portal.

The Bad:  The addition of this new rule may cause some major changes in how schools recruit and pursue players.  Schools can now spend months and years gaining a recruit, only to lose them the next year if they aren’t happy with results or playing time.  Also, once the player enters the portal, they are forfeiting their right to scholarship and from the roster. The school can choose to not accept the scholarship or player back if they do not end up transferring.  It also would still hold the one year transfer period in which the player must sit out unless granted exemption.

After looking into the new portal it seems it mostly favors the higher end talent, the players who know they will get picked up and start somewhere right away.  The 5-star recruits that want a new start. Also, some players may lose their scholarships and some schools may lose time and money from recruiting as well. I’m excited to see how this works out, and my prediction is this:  more talent playing at more schools. We just saw Brandon Wimbush go from playoff contender Notre Dame to UCF, and Kelly Bryant (16-2 as a starter) is leaving National Champs Clemson to play at Missouri. Welcome to the age of free agent college football!

-By: Chris Czaplinski