Hugh Freeze on transfer portal: 'I haven't handled it very well'

Add Auburn coach Hugh Freeze to the growing list of college coaches voicing the opinion that the college football calendar needs a serious rework.

As things stand, coaches are having to juggle bowl preparations, NFL Draft declarations, opt-outs, the close to the 2024 early signing period and the transfer portal all at the same time.

Freeze doesn’t want to be overly active in the portal — he views building through the high school ranks as the most sustainable approach — but he admits circumstances can force one’s hand. He discussed how things have gone for him in the transfer portal so far this cycle.

“I don’t think I’ve handled it very well, truthfully,” Hugh Freeze said in a press conference on Saturday. “We want to build this program through high school for the most part. Having said that, I don’t know if you can ever isolate yourself into saying that’s what is going to happen because you don’t know how many you’re going to lose at this time, if that makes sense.

“You can plan, ‘Hey, we’re going to replace these 20 seniors with 20 high schoolers’, but then all of a sudden you have 30 spots and you haven’t recruited enough high schoolers for those spots and, obviously, you have to go to the portal then.”

That’s the challenge many coaches are facing. Their rosters are constantly in a state of flux, and just when you think you have the numbers figured out they can change up on you again.

If the calendar were a bit more spaced out, it might offer coaches the opportunity to take a more measured approach to the transfer portal and recruiting.

“I think our calendar is extremely messed up,” Hugh Freeze said. “I don’t think it’s good for high school recruiting, portal recruiting, managing your own team, getting ready for bowl prep. I think our calendar needs a serious, serious look at it for what’s best for our game. It’s hard for any of us to truly manage all of it, truthfully.”

But until the NCAA changes things, college coaches will have to get used to the mad dash that is the month of December.

If you’re not on board with handling the fast-paced action, you can be left behind in a hurry. So Hugh Freeze and company are doing what they can to adapt and learn as they go.