By Hunter Osburn / Guest Reporter
The number of collegiate athletes who have entered the NCAA Football transfer portal has increased drastically over the past few years after its creation in 2018. Transferring allows players to choose where they want to continue their college career, and it’s becoming a major problem.
Athletes can transfer out of a program for name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, better coaching staffs, increased playing time, among others.
The NCAA is teaching these athletes they can leave whenever things don’t go their way, but that’s not how the real world works. The loose rules of the transfer portal are not preparing them for the next level of their careers–such as the NFL–and it’s creating a bad culture.
It’s not just one or two players transferring in and out; it’s a massive number over many programs. According to ESPN, over 1,000 players have entered the transfer portal this year.
Players like Kyle McCord, Chip Trayanum, Kyle Stokes and Omari Abor have all transferred out of their original universities, while players like Will Howard, Seth McLaughlin and Will Kacmarek have transferred into new universities from all across the country, according to Sportskeeda.
When players enter their name into the transfer portal, they lose their original scholarship that was given when they committed to that university. There aren’t enough scholarships for players who transfer, and many teams are losing a majority of their roster, according to Bleacher Report.
Having the opportunity to transfer out of a university significantly hurts the program that the player leaves. With the recent retirement of University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, 27 Alabama players have transferred, and with former University of Washington coach Kalen Deboer replacing Saban, over 20 Washington players have transferred as well, according to 247Sports.
Recently, SEC Freshman of the Year and defensive back Caleb Downs from The University of Alabama, transferred after totaling a team-high 107 total tackles, one forced fumble and two interceptions his freshman season, according to ESPN.
He has since committed to The Ohio State University, leaving Alabama in shambles after losing two of their most skilled players, as Downs transferred to OSU and former Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond transferred to University of Texas.
In 2023, Deion Sanders was hired as the head coach for the University of Colorado Boulder. His group of talent in Shedeur and Shilo Sanders, as well as Travis Hunter, transferred with him from Jackson State University to Colorado, according to CBS Sports.
Although they didn’t have an improved record from his time at JSU, what fans call the “Prime Effect” was in full swing, with viewership setting record highs and season tickets selling out for the first time in 100 years, according to Sports Illustrated.
Meanwhile, JSU lost their Sanders spark. In Jackson State’s Orange Blossom Classic against Florida A&M, viewership dropped to less than half of what it was with Sanders as coach, according to HBCU Gateway.
Overall, the transfer portal is harmful for college football players because it teaches players bad decision-making skills, it’s bad for the schools that they leave, and it teaches them that they can leave the program when things get hard, which is not the case in the NFL.
