By Brett Daniels
The Transfer Portal is one of the more controversial developments in recent College Football history. Prior to its implementation, players who transferred would have to sit for one season before being eligible at their new school unless they were one of the few players approved for a hardship waiver or were a grad transfer. Currently, roster management is the Wild West with unlimited transfers and immediate eligibility at the player’s new school. Two coaches with contrasting use of the Portal both had bad weekends which begs the question, is an all-or-nothing approach with the Portal a viable strategy in today’s college football environment?
Not Using the Portal
Dabo Swinney and his Clemson Tigers were soundly beaten by #1 Georgia on Saturday afternoon. Clemson was once considered one of the top two teams in all of college football along with Alabama who the Tigers defeated twice for the National Championship. Since 2013 Clemson has only signed four Top 10 recruiting classes (2015, 2018, 2020, 2021) and had a reputation for identifying talent and then developing them when they arrived on campus.
Prior to the Transfer Portal being implemented in 2021. it was harder for players to move around so staying on a team where you would be developed and waiting your turn to play was an easier sell. Since 2021 Clemson has had a combination of talented players not wanting to wait to play along with misevaluations or lack of development in the high school players that were brought in which has caused a talent drain on the roster. To make matters worse, Swinney’s refusal to bring in players from the Transfer Portal has produced a lack of quality depth as well as a lower level of competition among the current players. Clemson currently sits at a Blue-Chip Ratio of 64% which is well behind teams like Ohio State (90%), Alabama (88%), and Georgia (80%).
Over-Reliance on the Portal
If Clemson and Dabo Swinney are a case study in a team that doesn’t use the Portal, Florida State, and Coach Mike Norvell are at the opposite end of the spectrum by using the Portal too much. Since 2020 Florida State has finished 22nd, 23rd, 20th,19th, and 12th in high school recruiting and currently sits at a Blue-Chip Ratio (that does not include transfers) of 49%.
Norvell is trying to use the Portal to make up for recruiting misses, a lack of high school talent, and a lack of player development. Since 2020, Florida State has taken 62 transfers out of the Portal. Bringing in that many transfer players will also affect team chemistry/culture. There is something to be said for the bonds that are formed as players grow and develop together over several seasons. This was evident last season when as soon as the Seminoles found out they weren’t in the College Football Playoff, the best players on the team opted out. The result was an embarrassing loss to Georgia 63-3 in the Orange Bowl.
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Those players had a chance to show the college football world and the committee that they deserved to be in the Playoff by beating a Georgia team that had been ranked #1 most of the season, instead they quit. The 2024 team came into the season still chirping about being left out of the Playoff last year instead of being focused on the team that was in front of them. Monday night’s loss to Boston College was another example of the team not being focused on the current team they are playing along with the reality that many of the transfer players are not elite talents.
The” Goldilocks” Approach to the Portal
Like almost anything in life, the Portal is best used in moderation. The elite teams in college football still recruit high school players with the same sense of urgency as in the pre-Portal days. Ohio State has finished 5th,2nd,4th, 4th, and 4th in high school recruiting since 2020 while taking 21 transfers over the same period. Georgia (1st,3rd,3rd,2nd,1st) and Alabama (2nd,1st,2nd,1st,2nd) with 18 and 27 transfers respectively are in the same boat. Kirby Smart, Nick Saban, and Ryan Day are for the most part only taking transfers at a position of need or to have/build quality depth on their team (Kalen Deboer is in his first season at Alabama and took several transfers to replenish the roster after the coaching change. It will be interesting to see if taking several transfers is a philosophy that continues in the future.)
College Football is and will always be more about “Jimmies and Joes” and less about the X’s and O’s. The more talented team will win more times than not.
