Penn State preps for balancing act ahead of spring game, transfer portal window opening, and spring evaluation period

The last two paragraphs of a news release from the NCAA last October that otherwise covered women’s basketball change officially moved the spring transfer window for college football players at the FBS and FCS levels. While overlooked by many (including this writer) at the time, It will make an already hectic April for Penn State and its peers across the sport even busier.

“The [NCAA Division I] Council voted to move the spring notification-of-transfer windows in both Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision football to April 15-30, rather than May 1-15,” the release said.

“The Football Oversight Committee proposed the change to allow participation discussions to occur at the conclusion of spring football, while also providing football student-athletes with more time to go through the transfer process and arrive at a new school before the start of summer activities.”

In other words, players can begin entering the mechanism created to allow them to move schools more easily and for free once on the same day the Lions will hold their annual Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium.

The 15-day window that starts then will run alongside the recruiting evaluation period, which also begins on April 15 and runs through the end of May and allows coaches to see prospects twice at their school during that time. The only day coaches can’t be on the road during that stretch is the seven Sundays that fall during it. And, at the same time, Penn State and everyone else in college football can also host prospects on campus until the end of May, as well.

Penn State preps for busy stretch

Put it all together, and another wild stretch is about to kick off for coaches who have already spent the last month with their players on the practice field, which of course followed allowed time with them during winter workouts in February. Before that, the winter transfer portal window and January contact period meant recruits were frequently on campus.

It’s all part of the reason why Lions’ coach James Franklin is trying to be creative with his staff’s calendar, as he is fully aware of the burnout it can create.

“There are a lot of moving parts,” Franklin said. “The new schedule, I think, has made it even more challenging. Because, typically after the bowl game, we’d get a little bit of time off. We got no time off. The day we landed from the [Rose Bowl], we had an official visitor on campus. So, I’m trying to find some times throughout the rest of the year, from a calendar perspective, whether it’s a long weekend, or throw them a real bone by coming in at 8 a.m. instead of seven, it would really be nice. But, where we can take a little bit of time, [we’re] trying to find days to do that, because the calendar has gotten more and more challenging.

More: Watch James Franklin’s latest post-practice press conference

“I know it’s a concern for me, and a lot of coaches in the Big Ten, and a lot of coaches nationally, and lot of the boards that I’m on, like the AFCA, that we worry that a lot of coaches that probably would have stayed in college football are going to go into the NFL.”

John Scott Jr., is likely one such example of that. While he’s not on the record as saying he left for a job with the NFL’s Detroit Lions after three seasons at Penn State, it’s hard to believe that the seemingly never-ending schedule in college football wasn’t a major factor in his decision. And, he’s hardly alone in making that transition for similar reasons; head coaches around the country, including Franklin, have been sounding the alarm bell about it for quite some time.

It’s why staff sizes are a key talking point across college football

It’s one reason why support staffs have and will continue to balloon in size. It might be the only way, besides a calendar change, to offer on-field assistants more breathesr. Franklin, with his new contract, has made strides in that area. He wants to make more. And, he recently laid out his case as to why.

“I think we’ve been fortunate that the administration has been supportive,” Franklin said. “You guys know I’ve talked about this in the past with the new rules. They almost make it impossible to not have a big staff. You have to have the numbers. As you guys have seen, we’re literally at these [spring] practices and we’ll have anywhere between 80 and 120 prospects at practice. Some of them are guys that are rising seniors that we’re trying to get to commit. Some are rising juniors that we’ve already offered, but then if you don’t do a good job with those other 60 guys, there’s going to be five or six guys in there that you’re going to offer scholarship and they’re going to base their opinion on Penn State about the how that experience is.”

A bad experience on just one visit can make Penn State’s path to land a prospect all the more challenging. It’s why the Penn State administration has and should continue to back Franklin and his push for more off-field staff members. Because, while it may sound dramatic, the future success of the Lions program partially depends on it.