Transfer Portal window, roster limits, collectives a concern for personnel staffers

NASHVILLE – More changes could be coming to the transfer portal in college football.

Back in June, the NCAA Division I Council introduced a proposal to change the transfer portal windows in football from 45 to 30 days. The proposal comes after 148 scholarship quarterbacks entered the portal by the end of January 2024.

How the new portal windows would be formatted remains to be seen, but a vote is expected on moving from 45 to 30 days this October. At the Personnel and Recruiting Symposium in Nashville, multiple Big Ten and SEC staffers believe moving from 45 to 30 days is a must.

“Shut down the spring portal,” one high-level SEC personnel director told On3.

Currently a 10-day spring portal, sources have continued to tell On3 since May that the portal turns into a roster retention nightmare in the spring.

Support for shorter transfer portal windows

While December is typically a frenzy of top talent who know they want to leave programs, whether for NIL or playing time, the spring is rarely filled with elite talent.

Instead, the spring has turned into a time to unload scholarships or for players to renege on deals signed in the winter and get a last-minute pay bump. Some staffers pointed to On3 that programs have altered schedules, so spring games are slated after the portal closes. 

“Even if the spring was just five days, that would be huge,” another staffer said.

A total of 538 FBS scholarship players entered the portal on the first day of the transfer portal in December 2023. Nearly 100 walk-ons also entered. And with multi-time transfers now legal, keeping movement to just one period would be preferred.

Multiple staffers told On3 that a 30-day window in December would be “perfect.” They were unfazed about having to deal with the portal during bowl season or the College Football Playoff.

“Forty-five days is just way too much,” a Big Ten staffer said. “It becomes a mess with travel and getting guys on visit.”

Where will roster limits sit?

College football currently has a scholarship restriction of 85. With the House settlement, the number will grow to 105 – a 20-scholarship increase for schools that max out the limit. In Nashville, conversations circled around what schools will max out to 105 or if some will stick with just 85.

Major programs like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan and Ohio State are expected to expand scholarships to 105. Whether that includes some partial scholarships remains to be seen. But while many expect all SEC schools to maximize the new limits, a handful of Big Ten schools are already anticipating they will not hit the 105 mark.

Schools will either offer full scholarships for every player or use partial scholarships to continue offering opportunities to walk-ons.

“We will be around 95 and then try to go partial scholarships up to 105,” another Big Ten staffer said.

Another Big Ten program is eyeing the possibility of sticking at just 85 scholarship players. Schools and conferences in the Group of Five, FCS and non-football-playing D-I programs will only be bound to roster limits if they choose to share revenue with athletes.

Future of NIL collectives

On Tuesday afternoon, the symposium had an open conversation about the future of NIL collectives with the House settlement. For months, collectives have been viewed as imperative to circumvent the coming revenue-sharing cap. Not having to follow Title IX rules and being able to offer a competitive advantage, collectives are expected to be important in the next model just like they have the last three years.

 The House settlement spells out that compensation must be “at rates and terms commensurate with compensation paid to similarly situated individuals.”

Most believe the third-party NIL collectives will remain, and will be key in compensating athletes in roster value dollars beyond revenue sharing. One ACC staffer told On3 that they hope the importance of collectives takes a step back, creating a more even playing field for programs in the Power Four.

Just like facilities, there are haves and have not in the NIL collective space. Oregon, Ohio State, Tennessee and Texas have all thrived with major budgets. If collectives took a backseat due to new enforcement, that would take away some dollars, the staffer said.

Still, in a room full of college football personnel, most do not believe the NCAA is capable of enforcing its own NIL rules.