What started as Texas canceling theirs due to the portal is beginning to snowball a bit to a growing trend across the football landscape of high profile schools canceling theirs (Texas, Ohio State, Southern Cal and Nebraska), and now we are even seeing it happen with some others. Just this morning, Dave Doeren has confirmed that all spring practices will be closed to the public this year, which includes a cancellation of the Spring Game.
NC State HC Dave Doeren "All 15 practices will be closed this spring." which means no Spring Game for N.C. State this year.— Pack Pride (@PackPride) February 25, 2025
Is this just a one-off thing, or is the concept of the Spring Game going to be eradicated due to schools scared of the spring Portal window? I want to hope this is just a one-off, but with everything else seemingly going the dumbest route possible right now, I don't have my hopes.
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I don't know if it's a one-off or a sign of things to come. All I know is it's bullshit. For many fans, their respective spring games are the only chances they get to see the team live. Not to mention all the fan engagement around them. This sucks for the fans. Especially the wee ones.
The only chance I ever got to see Vick on the field in person was spring of 2000 when I was 7.
If a program can't figure out how to turn the Spring game into something positive for the program and the fan base that's on them. Hell, if nothing else it's an opportunity for more revenue.
Exactly.
I'd be all for replacing spring games with fall/summer scrimmages against other schools. Or do we call that our OCC schedule?
With the portal, they should probably just go to the NFL-style mini-camp after the spring semester/2nd transfer portal window, so then you only have to worry about practicing guys you know will be there for the season. I've seen some suggest you could have some kind of mini-camp in the spring as well, but it does seem like the spring games are going to go away. It's just not a big enough of a deal outside of a handful of schools, as nice as it is to have it.
Or just have a single portal window that opens the day after each school concludes their season, and a window that closes 2 weeks after the national championship. Here's the catch - schools can start making offers the day after the post-season ends, but players cannot put their name into the portal until their SCHOOL's post-season ends. Schools that dont go bowling or into the playoffs - they get to start recruiting the moment the regular season ends, and gives them maximum time (almost 2 months) to recruit, and it minimizes the amount of time that playoff teams have to see players leave and get players recruited, which in theory could help bring some better parity. Bowl schedules would need to be overhauled entirely so that games like the Duke's mayo bowl which featured teams that could benefit from extra portal time dont get kneecapped because of bad timing. Best way to solve this would be to limit bowl games from happening from only the middle of December (after finals) an up until Jan 1 (basically 2 weeks)...
And all of this assuming the NCAA has any teeth left to make some hard rules about this in the first place. But the net benefit is that there's a single window - and the guys you have going into the Spring are the ones that should be there in the Fall.... unless they get pissy about their NIL deal and just quit, but that would mean they are sitting out an entire year, and unable to resume activities until the subsequent Spring.
This makes entirely too much sense, is too logical, and would introduce equality and parity across all teams.
"No fucking way." -ESPN, NCAA, B1G and SEC.
I like having one portal window, but I think the only issue you have is that the summer is might be the best time to transfer academically. Just a cleaner break, I would think? And depending on when the season ends some schools' spring semesters would have started by the end of the postseason, or you're giving players a week to pick a new school. It's tough to work around the academic calendar. Maybe that's not that important now.
if the window starts after 2nd semester they don't transfer until summer anyways
But if it's, say, a two-week window, starting/closing after the semester starts then you have kids who are transferring either spending the semester away from the team they're transferring to, or getting to their new school not being able to enroll in classes. I don't know that there's a perfect solution. You just kind of have to choose the least worst one.
You stay until the end of the year and then transfer, no big issue.
If I really wanted to rule with an iron fist I will absolutely hear the argument for the academic calendar, and the portal window would open after a player's semester ended (would would also allow them to opt out of their bowl game) and they would need to be accepted AND enrolled at the new school before the first Monday of January to be eligible for the Fall season. Thats roughly 3 weeks to get your stuff figured out. And for those that are on the roster of a CFB team - tough shit. You are locked-in to your school or you get the new version of a redshirt year if you decide to transfer after the portal window closes.
That's probably how it ends up being. You have maybe four schools who have to have the super late portal, but they're in theory the best teams anyway, so they just have to deal with it.
Is it just me or is the entire year round schedule for football determines by a couple of cats that walked through paint and onto a calendar?
The signing days suck when they happen, the portals are at wierd times. Who comes up with this stuff?
They should fix the entire schedule
1) Early signing day is in August, schools have to give 4 year scholarships, players can't transfer for 2-3 years. They could transfer but not play. (need lawyers to determine how not to get sued)
2) singing day is first week if February
3) Portal opens 1 week prior to signing day and closes a week after.
4) spring portal is middle two weeks of April which allows spring games to happen post portal closing for 2 weekends in April. Teams would still get a number of weeks to evaluate players.
March and May are dead periods. June, July are camps. August is practice.
Yep- once Christian McCaffrey opted out of a BCS game, that opened those floodgates- now everyone opts out. Spring Games will be gone within 3 years. Enjoy it. No putting toothpaste back in the bottle in college football.
that's who i thought of as well. Someone was eventually going to do it, it just happened to be him. But the post-season hasn't been the same since he made his choice, and the sport unfortunately has been worse off because of it.
Hang on. What toothpaste comes in a bottle?
I have to be honest, I don't quite follow how the spring game would impact the portal. Do they worry that the good players in the game will be poached?
I guess the idea is that it becomes essentially an open scouting event for anyone looking to poach.
I think the actual Spring practices would be a bigger issue as many times the top starters play pretty sparingly in the Spring Game anyways.
I see it as being a bigger issue for the "Blue Bloods" who are potentially trying to protect their 2-Deep from being picked apart...i.e. WR4 shows out in Spring Game and then has multiple teams offering him a starting spot immediately.
open scouting event - Michigan did this openly in real games and received no punishment basically.
Flip side: App State is bringing back their spring game for the first time in over a half decade.
I enjoy the spring game. I hope it stays. But if it doesn't, then *shrugs*
My immediate thought - as someone who is quite cynical about coaches' motivations - is that coaches are using transfer portal paranoia as an excuse to cancel an activity that they all hate (the spring game). They would all love to have a 15th practice instead of a vanilla scimmage.
We are now at college footballs "fuck the fans" phase of NFL metamorphosis. Soon you will get your wish. Why play a game in front of our home fans when we can play in Sao Paulo, Spain, Ireland, Germany? Why broadcast games on local TV thursday night when we can charge fans for the privilege?. Why have a spring game for the fans? Fuck the fans is the latest installment into the transformation.
Sure - but my point is let's not blame it on the transfer portal.
Damn Fuente, ahead of his time.
UVA could cancel their spring game and nobody would know
I wish I could spam the upvote button. Bravo.
Cancelling the spring game would hurt a lot of businesses in the NRV and Roanoke. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Whit/Pry aren't concerned with that. Their only concern is raising money to pay player salaries now.
I'm starting to actually hate college football.
They're slowly removing all the uniqueness out of it making it a minor league to the NFL instead of a fun experience.
Atleast with MLB minor leagues they are all about the fans because who wants to watch baseball. Football is going opposite, why care about the fans if I can have like 10 donors pay for everything.
Oh college football is still plenty unique. No hard eligibility rules, no salary caps, unlimited free agency and movement, funded by fans, no real governance. I can't think of any other sport like it really.
European soccer
Their fans fund the teams salaries? They have no enforceable rules and unlimited movement? I don't think so. Their players have contracts for certain periods of time.
Um college basketball?
They're slowly removing all the uniqueness out of it making it a minor league to the NFL instead of a fun experience.
This is exactly why I'm starting to hate it.