• Loading stock data...
Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Coaches Hate the Transfer Portal. But Their Coaching Carousel Is Making the Problem Worse

  • Thirty head football coaches have left or were fired from their positions, according to at least one tally, contributing to extra transfer portal upheaval.
  • Coaches blame players and the portal for roster instability—but the coaching carousel itself is “arguably” the biggest factor.
Nov 25, 2023; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Chip Kelly reacts after the game against the California Golden Bears at Rose Bowl.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Shortly after winning the national championship, Jim Harbaugh left Michigan for the NFL, taking the top job with the Chargers. Washington’s head coach, Kalen DeBoer, headed to Tuscaloosa after Alabama’s Nick Saban announced his retirement. Jedd Fisch left Arizona to take DeBoer’s spot. Last Friday, UCLA’s Chip Kelly took the offensive coordinator position at Ohio State. And on and on and on.

Coaches, unlike players, have no restrictions for their own “transfers”—and not even eight-figure buyout clauses have stopped them from leapfrogging at the last second. Thirty coaches have changed jobs this year, according to The Athletic—more than in any offseason in the past 12 years. 

The carousel has a ripple effect: Well over 2,000 Division I football players have entered the portal since Aug. 1, 2023, according to On3—just 400 or so fewer than last year. And there’s still another 15-day window to go. The NCAA shortened transfer windows this year to ease some of the chaos, but that doesn’t appear to have helped much. Football coaches across the country have lamented the difficulties that transfer restrictions pose on roster management. But in college football, the coaching carousel is as much to blame as any other factor that contributes to players seeking greener pastures.

“The coaching carousel has a profound impact on the transfer portal, as it creates a domino effect of player movement and roster changes,” says Kurt Roth, the founder of the New Mexico–based NIL company 505 Sports Venture Foundation, which helps New Mexico athletes navigate NIL. “While many spectators and pundits blame their [team’s] perceived problems with the transfer portal on NIL activities, the ability of coaches to move around is arguably the bigger contributor to player transfers.” (UNM players saw their own coaching change this December: Danny Gonzalez was fired and replaced by Bronco Mendenhall.)

The portal has been around since 2018, but it didn’t become controversial until ’21 when the NCAA changed its transfer rules to allow players to transfer at least once without consequence. Now players have two short windows throughout the year to enter: one 30-day window in December and January, and another 15-day window in April. (Players who have already transferred once don’t get an unrestricted opportunity to leave again, per NCAA rules, though a recent court decision has ended that restriction at least for the rest of the year.)

But those timing restrictions go out the window if a head coach is fired, retires, or leaves the program for another job. All the players on the team immediately become eligible to transfer for a period lasting 30 days.

Because of the 30 coaches who have switched jobs, 2,550 scholarship players are eligible—and that’s not including walk-ons. More than a dozen Alabama players and a dozen Washington players entered the portal in the days following the news that their coaches were leaving, despite the fact that both teams were national championship contenders last year. Those players ultimately can opt to stay, but in the meantime it’s likely that they also engage in a negotiation process with their coaching staff and NIL collective. Coaches like Georgia’s Kirby Smart have admitted that they’re spending just as much time and effort retaining their existing roster as they do adding to it.

The self-inflicted mayhem doesn’t stop when a new coach arrives on campus, however. Some coaches essentially force players into the portal with the intention of replacing them with new recruits or players from the coach’s previous program—straight from the portal. 

Perhaps the most drastic example: Deion Sanders’s Colorado Buffaloes. When Sanders arrived in Boulder in 2023, he quickly cut 40–50 players from the team—close to half the roster. Twenty additional players left of their own accord. Ultimately, the team he fielded in the fall had 84 new names. (Sanders himself has criticized the transfer portal process despite his own contribution to the upheaval.)

Between the current momentum of lawsuits attacking the NCAA’s transfer and NIL restrictions—and the NCAA’s unwillingness to follow the lead of professional leagues in finding legal ways to create restrictions, like collective bargaining—there seems to be no end in sight to the chaos. But coaches do have the power to ease the transfer portal chaos a little bit. All they have to do is slow down their own “coaching portal.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Commanders Don’t Yet Control RFK Stadium Site. An Architect Has Grand Plans..

Architect Kyle Murphy seeks a “truly national stadium.”
Mar 21, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) and owner Ted Leonsis during a ceremony to honor scoring an NHL second best 802 career goal before the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit:

Capitals Draw Criticism for Posting GoFundMe Link for Longtime PA Announcer

Wes Johnson has been the team’s PA announcer for 25 years.

NFL Power Shifts: Brady’s Influence Drives Raiders Leadership Moves

The Raiders introduced Pete Carroll as the team’s new head coach.
exclusive

Colin Cowherd Nearing Deal to Remain at FS1

Cowherd’s current contract is slated to expire in late February.

Featured Today

It’s Starting to Pay to Be Good at Cornhole

American Cornhole League players made $7.7 million in 2024.
PWHL arena
January 25, 2025

PWHL’s Sophomore Year Booms in Canada, Has Room to Grow in U.S.

Attendance is up 30% from last year, the league says.
January 24, 2025

Once Abandoned, Portland Is Regaining Its Place in the WNBA

The next WNBA team is springing up in a once-deserted market.
October 17, 2011; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets fan fireman Ed during the first half against the Miami Dolphins at the New Meadowlands Stadium.
January 24, 2025

Superfandom Is a Lifestyle, Business—and Thorn in Some Teams’ Sides

Rabid fandom has perks—sometimes to the frustration of teams and leagues.
Brown falls to Dartmouth 84-83 at Pizzitola Sports Center. Alexander Lesburt Jr drives to the net with Ryan Cornish defending for Dartmouth.

What Trump’s Moves Mean for Future of College Sports Labor

Athletes probably won’t win employee status through the NLRB.
Jan 24, 2025; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; LSU Lady Tigers guard Flau'Jae Johnson (4) drives against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second half at Colonial Life Arena.
January 26, 2025

South Carolina WBB Suspends DJ Who Trolled LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson

The DJ will be suspended for one home game.
Head coach Ryan Day fires up the crowd during the Ohio State Buckeyes College Football Playoff National Championship celebration at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Jan. 26, 2025.
January 27, 2025

American Football Coaches Association Taps Federal Lobbyists

Lobbying disclosures noted the groups will be working on NIL issues.
Sponsored

How UBS Crafts Impactful Partnerships Across Sports, Arts, and Culture

As UBS continues to expand its impressive array of sports and entertainment partnerships, the company solidifies its position as a leader in wealth management.
January 26, 2025

Penn State Poaches Rival Ohio State DC With Record $9.3M Deal

Ohio State had one of the best defenses last season.
Dec 7, 2024; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck (15) reacts during the second half in the 2024 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
opinion
January 26, 2025

In the NIL Era, You Can Help Your School Buy a Quarterback

How the wild new normal sets college sports apart from the pros.
January 25, 2025

Vanderbilt Has Racked Up $850,000 in Fines for Court Storming This School..

Vandy’s head coach said he’s fine with the fines for now.
USC football
January 25, 2025

USC Poaches Notre Dame Football GM Chad Bowden With $1 Million Salary

The GM position has taken on outsized importance in college sports.