Mississippi State kicker announces he will enter transfer portal

Mississippi State kicker Nolan McCord will enter the transfer portal, he announced Thursday via Twitter. A redshirt freshman this past season, he has four years of eligibility remaining.

“I would like to start off by thanking everyone at Mississippi State University,” McCord wrote. “…These past two years I have met some of the greatest people in Starkville and made memories that will last a lifetime. After a long heartfelt conversation, I have decided to enter the transfer portal and use my remaining four years at a different home. Thank you, everyone, for your support here and as always Hail State!”

Thank you Mississippi state🖤 pic.twitter.com/RFFVuT1xOu

— Nolan Mccord (@NolanMccord) January 14, 2022

McCord was the backup kicker this season but saw significant action when starter Brandon Ruiz went down with an injury. McCord finished a perfect 22-for-22 on PATs, while also going 9-for-16 on his field-goal attempts. Ruiz is set to enter the NFL draft, leaving the Bulldogs in search of a new kicker for 2022.

Mississippi State finished the year 7-6 in coach Mike Leach’s second season. The Bulldogs lost their final game of the year to Texas Tech in the Liberty Bowl. They are set to kick off 2022 against Memphis on Sept. 3.

Transfer portal background information for Mississippi State kicker Nolan McCord

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be  contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.