Brutally Honest Sports
Is the Transfer Portal Killing College Athletics?
The transfer portal has been around for a very long time in collegiate athletics. However, here recently, it has become one of the most popular tactics for acquiring athletic talent throughout the country.
There are a few different opinions on the subject, whether or not it is good or bad for college football, specifically; and truthfully, it’s both, and let me tell you why.
The exact date on which the transfer portal trend took off is debatable, but the fact of the matter is it is now more popular than ever.
It is so incredibly easy for a collegiate athlete to, once adversity of any kind strikes, enter their name in the transfer portal, select their school of choice, and then arrive on campus soon after with zero consequences whatsoever.
Some folks would even argue it should be this way, but when this freedom gets taken advantage of, the wheels begin to fall off.
To give an example, look at the current state of the University of Colorado Boulder football program led by transfer portal enthusiast, Deion Sanders: in week one, they struggled against an inferior opponent in North Dakota State, and then got physically dominated by rival Nebraska.
Despite these struggles, one could argue the Buffaloes have a better quarterback and offensive skill players than both of these teams hands down.
The alarming thing about the Buffaloes, who have an entire roster revolving around the portal, is once Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter leave, what will the team look like?
While these players were both transfer portal guys, there is not a lot of promise at other positions because they have barely any “true” freshman on the roster who they can actually develop, and to me, this is where Coach Sanders’ implementation to the transfer portal strategy program is flawed.
There is no way to “build” your program and keep it at a high level consistently, as you are always relying on good players to be available in the portal, regardless of their age.
If you get a big-name senior quarterback from another program, by the time he truly learns the offense and adapts to all the changes with switching universities, it’s already week five or six, and he is just now reaching his full potential.
Whereas, if you were to recruit a high school athlete who you trust can be efficient in the future, by the time he’s in his third-ish year, redshirt or not, he’s probably ready to play week one.
It does not seem that Sanders is going to change his ways anytime soon, though. Back in April, “Coach Prime” was asked what position groups he would “hunt” for in the portal, due to Colorado’s significant player loss in the spring already.
Sanders immediately attacked the media and was quoted saying “I wish you guys did a little more homework when you start talking about the portal.”
Sanders was also quoted saying “Quit making a big deal out of nothing.” So, instead of owning up to the flaws of his transfer portal strategy, Coach Sanders defends it by putting the blame on the media at the press conference.
To me, there seems to be little to no stability involved with this strategy of overloading the portal, and I think this will haunt Coach Sanders and Colorado sooner rather than later, if it is not already doing so.
On the flip side, I do feel there are certain programs doing a great job of balancing transfer portal players and recruiting high school guys.
Programs like Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas, Tennessee, Ohio State, Oregon, and others are consistently at the top of both the recruiting rankings, as well as the transfer portal rankings.
Coaches should use the transfer portal as a tool rather than the sole tactic for bringing in high-quality athletes to their program.
What makes college football, and really all collegiate athletics so great, is the authenticity and the tradition.
I think it is still important in college football to have the option to build up your program from the ground through the high school ranks like how Steve Spurrier, Bobby Bowden, Bob Stoops, Nick Saban, and even Dabo Swinney were able to do.
Personally, I am for the transfer portal, as I think it gives athletes more freedom and it takes away the feeling of being “stuck” at a University that may not be the best fit for you. However, I am completely against taking away the authenticity of something as precious as college athletics.
In order to ensure this does not occur, I feel like the way things are trending, there will have to be tighter restrictions and more clarity overall on the rules and regulations of the portal so it does not ruin college sports as we know it.
