Wanted to start a discussion to see how TKP thinks the transfer portal (and by extension, the significant increase in transfers) will affect the greater recruiting landscape. Potential discussion points include:
- It seems like a lot of teams will have at least 2-3 scholarship positions open up each year between early signing period and NSD - will/should these spots go to other transfers or recruits?
- Given the larger volume and improved talent of the average transfer, do you want to see VT spend more time recruiting transfers? Especially curious to hear the opinion of those who are/were not big fans of picking up transfers (looking at you French)
- In general, is this good or bad for G5 schools? Good or bad for the bluebloods? Good or bad for VT?
- How do you think this affects college football overall?
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Comments
I personally think this is the worst it will ever be. This made it easy but the dialogue will soon shift to player "burning their transfer" and moving as stock rises or falls.
Think of favorite Leal; he is a dude who would have been snapped up by much bigger fish after sitting a year or two.
I really dislike it for the schools and the coaches that put so much time into getting these guys in the first place. I think it could help out some of the middle-of-the-road teams but isn't as good for the blue bloods who have those guys in their system as part of a more systematic process.
From a players' perspective, I'd love this option, especially for the ones that have gotten injured or are extremely talented but have had to sit behind more talented guys on the roster at their respective position.
As a fan, I hate it.
It won't change "recruiting" at all. Nothing does long term. The top blue blood schools sign the best and most highly rated players, by and large. After that, SEC teams with good recruiters sign the next pool, and so on. The transfer portal won't change that.
It should hypothetically spread the talent and improve the parity in college football in the mid to low level schools. The huge negative I see is that it is going to be increasingly harder to build quality depth. The best teams will be the healthiest ones. Blue bloods will see less impact due to the quality of their younger developmental players.
I think this is the hopeful idea, and will help smaller schools anecdotally, but it's naive to think the top schools won't ultimately benefit the most. If they ever drop that one year sit out for all transfers, be ready for the blue bloods to fill their roster holes every year with the best and most talented G5 and middle P5 free agents each year.
We're already seeing this happen. All these former borderline 5* players are all transferring to Miami, Tennessee, Ohio State, etc. they aren't going to the weaker recruiting schools with the less impressive stadiums and facilities.
for what its worth only the ones that are leaving the blue bloods are going to the blue bloods. what about all the border line 5* guys that go to the VTs, UNCs, Mich st, Penn st, Oregons, etc. those are the kids that are going to the smaller schools to get on the field immediately. those guys aren't interested in going to a school that's a step up and competing for a job. they want to go somewhere that they will have a job when they walk through the door.
I don't think this really changes anything. The transfer portal doesn't change the rules around transfers. It just changes the way it's handled. It's just scary because it's new and called the transfer portal. If they called it transfer spreadsheet I doubt we would make as big of a deal around it. Ultimately the rules are still the same. We just changed how coaches access it. Not to mention players don't actually go into the portal until they have decided they want to transfer. So I'm not convinced the portal will make a difference in that regard. Do y'all think Kumah, McClease, and Jackson sat down and decided to transfer because the portal was available?
But at the end of the day these kids don't owe us anything. Let them make their career choices just as we all have, wish them luck, and move on.
Over the next 3 or 4 years we'll see more parity amongst teams. A 2 or 3 deep player at a Blue Blood school will have more ability to walk away to pick up play time with a lesser program...balancing the scales.
However - things can get tricky for those schools picking up transfers. You recruit a quality player with the understanding that they'll get a chance to start their Sophomore or Junior year...then in comes a transfer from School X that takes that spot. Years ago we had a local coach here at the U of Delaware who had a reputation for bringing in those transfers. The home grown players didn't like it. Could make it harder to recruit if this transfer dance creates more uncertainty for those kids willing to sit a year or two to develop into starters.
have to agree with this. Fuente is probably out their selling immediate playing time to recruits. The ones that sign because of it and get here and then BOOM we've brought in grad transfer to start for 1 year. Big picture and for fans sake it makes the football team better for that 1 season. But for the recruit that feels slighted and lied to not so much. If we develop a reputation for taking on grad transfers it will certainly have a negative effect on recruiting.
We seem to be a team that always has a hole or 2 on the team, I think the transfer portal could really help us if we use it properly.
I think it will be a net positive as bad as it seems now.
You ultimately want players at schools where they want to be. It's better for them and for the team. It's like any other relationship. You really can't tell how successful it will be in the "courting phase".
I think it hurts "blue blood" schools more than it hurts us. The likelihood of a VT transfer going to a higher tiered school is less likely than the opposite happening.
Once again though these top players aren't going to the weaker recruiting schools, they are going to other top schools or schools that have the money and facilities. Let's examine the big ones:
Justin Fields: Georgia to Ohio State
Tathan Martell: Ohio State to Miami
Bubba Bolden: USC to Miami
DeAngelo Gibbs: Georgia to Tennessee
Aubrey Solomon: Michigan to Tennessee
Kyler Murray: A&M to Oklahoma
Alvin Kamara: Alabama to Tennessee
Shea Patterson: Ole Miss to Michigan
The list goes on and on, the guys who were top recruits and felt like they were too good or too big to go to a school like VT will likely still feel that way when they transfer. The ones who go down a tier or two usually do so because they turned out to not be as good as they thought they were and that became more clear to them.
I still think we benefit in the long run or at least it has a minimal real effect. That is, of course, assuming we don't have a culture problem and that this is the last of the Beamer guys looking for something closer to what they were expecting under Beamer.
I think it's the college equivalent of free agency, in a limited format. I think it will change the game in ways we don't necessarily envision, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing for the college game. I'm not convinced it's a great thing for college players, most of whom I think will end up finding out the grass isn't always greener, and that player development will suffer. Generally, the strongest teams who have good upperclassmen on the roster tend to be better teams. Especially when those juniors and seniors are QB's. I can understand how the players feel, and for some I'm sure it will work out well (example: Russel Wilson), but I think the majority will not benefit from it, and for every Russel Wilson, there will be three kids (or more) for whom it doesn't work.
LIVE LOOK AT THE TRANSFER PORTAL
Is there a deadline to enter?