The Transfer Portal is Out of Control, Here’s Why
The College football regular season has come to an end and with that marks the beginning of the off-season. Now the off-season might not sound extremely exciting, but this is where coaches get new jobs or even lose their jobs. It's where players decide they want a fresh start and hit the transfer portal. The transfer portal has quickly grown into one of college football's best recruiting assets. This past was a great example of teams using the transfer portal to their benefit and seeing great success. Prime examples of that include LSU and USC. Both programs grabbed their star QB's from the portal.
The transfer portal is only going to continue to grow as a popular method for getting superstars that they may have missed out on during their high-school recruitment. With no more rules or regulations on the transfer portal, any player can choose to leave their school and play for another anytime they want. With the regular season coming to an end less than two weeks ago, the transfer portal has seen a mass exodus of names looking to find a new home. The number of names that have already entered the portal might surprise you.
That number is expected to grow tremendously before everything is all said and done. This large increase in names is due to two key main factors. The first factor is that there are no longer any restrictions on the portal. In the past, participants had to be a graduate transfer and you can't transfer to a school within the same conference as your previous school without having to sit out a year. Without any restrictions, players leave whenever they want for whatever reason they want. Factor number two has been a huge reason for many many players and that is NIL deals. High-profile players are willing to head to schools in bigger markets in hopes of securing some type of brand deal or partnership. While I do believe the portal can give players like Joe Borrow a second chance at a great college career, there are some side effects to this new-age transfer portal.
The main side effect is players not being able to find a new university to call home. You are probably thinking "that's the risk you take when you decide to leave." It is but more and more players are getting left due to the influx of high-profile guys hitting the portal. The portal was considered a place where fourth or fifth-year guys, Like Joe Borrow, spent their time at their primary school but wanted a chance to get real playing time on the field. If you have all of these big-name stars who are leaving their school because their team is not good or they want better NIL money, then the little guys are the ones who get left. Here are some transfer portal statistics from the last few seasons.
Only 40% percent of prospects have found a new home over the last three seasons. That is astonishing considering the raw number of names who enter the portal. What's worse is that you have multiple guys who have entered the portal more than once in their careers. Prime examples are Keedon Slovis and JT Daniels who both left USC to go to Pittsburg and West Virginia but are now on the move again. Big-name head coaches like Deion Sanders aren't making the situation any better by going to new programs and promising to bring guys with him. Deion's big name and great coaching style have already attracted multiple transfer portal guys to make their way to Colorado.
The new age portal has also taken a major hit to junior college athletes who depend heavily on the portal to find a new home after their 2 years were up. If there is a junior college quarterback looking at an FBS school and a former power five quarterback looking at the same school, more than likely the power five players will get the nod over the junior college player.
The transfer portal has given us some absolute gems in the past and has given a lot of players new opportunities to have a career, but it is completely out of control now. The portal along with NIL deals is establishing a consolidation of power to a select few schools and the top-rated athletes. This in turn takes a toll on smaller universities and lower-rated players. I think the NCAA needs to make some stricter regulations on the transfer portal, would do you think?