Tyler Stearns |
The transfer portal is deeply flawed in many ways. Firstly, teams can lose many starters in a matter of days and will struggle to rebuild the roster if they cannot give recruits proper NIL deals and/or treatment. Furthermore, the transfer portal has ruined the loyalty of college athletics. Players can leave and go anywhere they wish if they are not seeing the field as much as they want to. Not only have players lost their allegiance to a University, but now coaches can leave and find better jobs with boosters who are willing to put in more to the program because they know that their previous school would not be able to survive in the world of the transfer portal and NIL. Though the portal has obvious flaws, it also has benefits, specifically to the player side. Players can find playing time and position themselves better for future success in football rather than sitting behind other players for the rest of their careers. As well, it has caused parity amongst teams throughout college football. You would never see the University of Washington in this year’s National Championship if it were not for the portal. Michael Penix, their starting QB, would still be at Indiana or even retired from college football. You also would not have seen Caleb Williams at USC, Jayden Daniels at LSU, or Bo Nix at Oregon.
The transfer portal underwent rule changes in 2021. Before, a player lost a year of eligibility after transferring. Now, a player can transfer as many times as they wish without burning a year of their college careers. This may seem like a good idea, but as many college football fans have noticed, it has created a free-for-all all amongst college athletes who value wealth over success collegiate success or development.
So how do we fix this issue? For CFB, the best possible way to solve this lingering issue is to propose a six-game sitting period where a student-athlete must sit six games before he can participate in games. This will limit the number of transfers because game time is a reason why many players enter the portal, however, it will not completely hinder the athlete's choice to transfer because NIL opportunities will remain even if they aren’t playing every snap. The timeline is thin before college football as we know it changes forever and massive moves need to be made by the NCAA to save the condition of the sport.
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