With MAC media day taking place last Thursday, it gave the top players in the conference an opportunity to discuss a number of topics. One of these was the current NIL and the transfer portal world. Thanks to David Briggs of The Toledo Blade, he received some interesting quotes regarding this topic.
Briggs did not use any of the player’s names during his interviews, but several explained the process of the coaches from other schools contacting them during the offseason regarding a possible transfer. Here are a couple of examples from the article:
● “There are a lot of middlemen. And if a coach follows you on Twitter, that’s kind of a signal. They’ll try to reach out without reaching out.”
● “A lot of coaches just hit me up. There were a lot of bigger schools reaching out and a couple agents, too, trying to get me to go into the portal. The money was good. … The biggest number I heard was a million. But I had to think about the long run. You can’t think about the short term. That’s what was in my head. I want to make it to the league and get that long money — the real money. The grass isn’t always greener.”
● “It’s not the schools necessarily reaching out. It’s people trying to make a quick buck off you with the commission. What’s important for me was being with my guys and getting my degree. That’s still the most important thing, and people lose sight of that.”
These comments are from players who turned down the opportunities and decided to return to their MAC school. However, many other top players from the conference did transfer to a P4 school during the offseason. Just a few of these include CB Raion Strader (Miami-Ohio to Auburn), WR Reggie Virgil (Miami-Ohio to Texas Tech), DE Bradley Weaver (Ohio to Rutgers), OL Alex Wollschlaeger (Bowling Green to Kentucky), LB James Djonkam (Eastern Michigan to Virginia Tech) and RB Terion Stewart (Bowling Green to Virginia Tech).
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This is a trend that is sure to continue in the coming years. Top players from the MAC, Sun Belt, Mountain West, Conference USA and the AC will have choices to make. Some will stay in the G5 while others will seek greener pastures. And while those pastures will likely have more NIL money, some will also realize that they made the wrong decision. Only time will tell how many of the players who did transfer during the 2024/2025 off-season will have regrets down the line.
