College football has several problems and now, the FBS coaches are looking to fix one of them. They unanimously approved a new 10-day transfer portal window that players would have from Jan. 2-12, a 10-day window instead of the current setup in December during bowl season. It also would eliminate the April portal window and if the NCAA signs off on it, it could go into effect as early as 2025-26.
This season, over 2,000 players entered the portal this winter cycle, and one of those schools hit hard was Virginia Tech. However, head coach Brent Pry has done a good job of adding through the portal, but in the overall big picture, is this going to fix the portal problem that the sport has?
One thing the portal does is guts rosters for teams that play in bowl games. Is that going to change under the new format? It’s hard to see that happening as players will likely still opt out if they know they’ll be entering the portal. I get it, players are opting out for the NFL Draft and that’s understandable, but it’s different for the portal. Some players do intend to transfer and stick it out with their current team before officially leaving. Those are few and far between.
In the overall big picture, does this really fix the problem that is the transfer portal? Not really. What is going to happen now is coaches are going to tamper with potential portal additions to get them on campus in time for spring ball, which is another problem within itself. Why can’t spring ball be moved to late May or early June like the NFL’s minicamps? I mean, the transfer portal is becoming a free-agency frenzy like the NFL.
It’s good that coaches see there is a problem with the transfer portal and they are attempting to make things right with this vote, but it doesn’t fully solve the problem. If it is passed by the NCAA, it’ll be interesting to see what effect this has next season during bowl season in terms of players already knowing they’re leaving and playing in bowl games.