How the transfer portal changed everything

After the implementation of the new NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) Policy, the landscape of college football has changed significantly. 

Players can now transfer to bigger programs that might yield more NIL money. Further, the NCAA changed the transfer rules to allow first-time transfers to switch schools without having to sit out a season. 

The result has been an environment where any player, unless they have transferred before, can transfer immediately to any team in the country.

Some coaches have called it “an open door to cheating,” or the “wild, wild West” while other coaches, like USC’s Lincoln Riley, have embraced the portal. 

Despite any individual’s stance, the transfer portal has not had the impact some critics expected this season.

The expectation among many fans, coaches, and pundits was that large football programs would only widen the gap between themselves and the rest of the field as they successfully corrall top talent from other teams. 

This has not happened across the board. 

Some large programs like USC, have certainly taken advantage of the portal. USC went from a 4-8 team that was painful to watch to a team that is currently 6-1 and fighting for a Pac-12 championship. Star transfers like Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison have been transformative and have turned the team around quicker ever before following the hiring of Lincoln Riley. 

Alabama, as expected, has also enjoyed the fruits of the relaxed transfer rules. Alabama junior running back Jahmyr Gibbs transferred from Georgia Tech. He is making his case for the Heisman, with 672 yards and 6 touchdowns on the season. 

Some critics did not anticipate the impact of talent leaving as talent arrives.

Former USC kicker Chase McGrath and wide receiver Bru McCoy have been difference makers at Tennessee. Both players have made game-winning plays for a team that is fighting for a College Football Playoff spot. 

Jaxson Dart, the quarterback at Ole Miss, also transferred from USC. He transformed Ole Miss into a playoff contender before they suffered a difficult loss at LSU. 

Kentucky and Syracuse, which have both been primarily associated with basketball in recent years, have had a resurgence in their football programs due to the transfer portal. 

Will Levis, a former Penn State backup QB, has been a difference maker at Kentucky, turning them into a top 20 team in the nation. Syracuse has had their best start since 1987 (6-0) after Garrett Shrader, an Ole Miss wide receiver, transferred to the Orange to play quarterback. Their record last season was 5-7. 

The impact of the transfer portal has reached even the most obscure teams. In their first season in the FBS, James Madison was able to breach the AP top 25 rankings with a talented transfer class. 

Even under perfect conditions, a meteoric rise of this nature would have taken years, if not decades without the new transfer portal rules. 

If the new NIL and transfer portal rules truly only benefit teams with historic, large, and wealthy programs, Texas and Texas A&M would not be absent from the rankings. 

These two teams boast the wealthiest programs in the nation, with some of the most elaborate recruiting infrastructures and have suffered against opponents with a fraction of the resources and transfer attraction.

The portal could definitely use some regulation, but it certainly isn’t “ruining college football.” At least not yet. If anything, it has made this one of the most entertaining seasons in years.

Some common-sense regulation could include a limitation on how many transfers a team can accept in one season. As a USC fan, I am happy Lincoln Riley raided the transfer portal before this season. 

As a college football fan, though, it is not in the best interest of the sport for a team to be able to take 20 players from the transfer portal in one season that are all able to play immediately. 

On balance, this season has proved that more relaxed rules can be a net positive on the NCAA. In only one season, the college football landscape has changed completely. The unpredictability is entertaining, and has made every week of this season interesting. 

Ethan Horowitz is a junior writing about the ever-changing college football landscape. His column “The End Zone” runs every other Tuesday.