The regular season is over, so let’s talk about two NCAA rule changes that need to go into effect as soon as possible.
No, I’m not talking about expanding the playoff. That is already happening – although, with the chaos of this year’s playoff selection, I’m sure there are many (especially in Florida and Georgia) who wish that change had already gone into effect.
There are other aspects of the college football season that are causing chaos even after the season has ended. The Wild West that is the transfer portal opened yesterday, and all last week players were announcing their intentions to enter.
The craziness of the portal and its timing are an issue for sure. There also exist issues with the proximity of the early signing period to the portal opening and bowl preparation that puts undue stress on college coaches. The NCAA needs to step in and make the month of December better for players and coaches.
Proposed NCAA Rule Changes – Postpone Both the Transfer Portal Opening and Early Signing Day
The fact that the transfer portal is open while over 80 of the 133 NCAA FBS teams are still practicing for bowls is laughable. Why is the portal open now? Why can’t it wait until after these teams play in their bowls? Allowing transfer activity is wreaking havoc on rosters and in locker rooms, and most teams – and coaches – do not need that distraction as they prepare for bowl games.
The other stressor is the early signing day that is almost upon us. In 1981, the NCAA abolished early signing periods (which were done by individual conferences) and created the National Signing Day in February. In 2017, they brought the early signing day back, aiming to create more certainty for players, who can put the worries of recruiting behind them. It also aimed to benefit the coaches who could lock in their recruits and focus on identified needs for the second signing period.
However, most recruits sign in December, making it the “main” signing day. This puts pressure on coaches at a time when they don’t need that extra responsibility. And having to deal with both the signing day AND the transfer portal while preparing for a bowl game is just too much.
Thus, the NCAA should make the following two rule changes:
- Keep the transfer portal closed until after the national championship game.
- Eliminate the early signing period
Reasons to Delay the Opening of the Transfer Portal
The obvious reason to move modify the transfer portal window is the aforementioned disruption to teams playing in the bowls. As coaches and teams prepare for a bowl game, they currently have to deal with players announcing their decisions to leave, which leaves those teams without key players that contributed to their winning seasons.
Not only does this affect practices, but it also places unnecessary strain on coaches off the field as well. They have to find time between bowl practices to mine the portal. They have to properly vet each candidate in only a few weeks, as opposed to the long-term process of developing relationship with their high school recruits (whom they will sign in a few weeks).
All this roster turnover undermines the bowls, too. With all of the opt-outs and transfers, the non-playoff bowls are becoming glorified scrimmages. Doesn’t the NCAA want a better product to sell?
What about those schools who fired their coaches at the end of the year? They have to make a quick hire in order to give that new coach and his staff some time to recruit the portal. In a lot of those cases of new coaching hires, their own rosters will be depleted from players leaving via the portal, so they do not have much time to target quality players to rebuild those rosters.
And let’s address the potential for tampering. With reports swirling of transfer destinations of players prior to the official opening of the portal, it is more than likely that other programs are recruiting kids while they are still on their own school rosters.
Take Riley Leonard of Duke for example. Last week, On3 tweeted (see below) that the quarterback was entering the portal and likely would end up at Notre Dame or Auburn. How do they know that? How would Leonard have any inclination where he is going if he had not already been in contact with other schools?
🚨NEWS: Auburn & Notre Dame are considered the top options for Duke transfer QB Riley Leonard, sources tell @PeteNakos_.
An official timetable has not been set yet by Leonard’s camp, but he is expected to take official visits👀
Story: https://t.co/Fu7KAyuC3g pic.twitter.com/uWRj08PS4g
— On3 (@On3sports) November 29, 2023
FOX Sports’ Brock Huard recently claimed that Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward has “10 seven-figure deals waiting for him” in the transfer portal. NIL makes it easy to recruit, and even easier to tamper.
But tampering is a garbage can of worms to open, so let’s stop there. Knowing the NCAA, I seriously doubt they will do anything to eliminate this practice.
Changing the signing day won’t prevent tampering, but it is one less issue to deal with in December. The NCAA should keep the portal closed until after the bowls and allow coaches – and teams – to finish their seasons without these unnecessary disruptions.
Reasons to Do Away With the Early Signing Period
In addition to delaying the start of the transfer portal period, the NCAA should do away with the Early Signing Period. Yes, the early window allows high schoolers to put an early end to a stressful process. And it could assist them in enrolling early in their colleges, should they choose to do so.
However, the admissions process begins earlier in the fall, so early enrollees have to start that process before signing their National Letters of Intent anyway, so eliminating the early period should not significantly affect that process.
Also, as with the transfer issue above, over half of the coaches are preparing for bowls in December, so having to close out their recruiting – while mining the portal, don’t forget AND dealing with their own potential portal losses – is incredibly stressful. Moving the signing day alleviates that problem too.
And what about those schools with new coaching hires? With an early signing period a few weeks into December, that does not give them much time to interact with the recruiting class, try to salvage signing day, and assess what is coming into their program.
Conversely, it also causes a lot of stress on those 17 and 18-year old kids who committed to play for a newly-fired coach. They then have to make life decisions in just a few weeks. How do they know if they will fit the new coach’s system? How do they know where the new staff will play them? Everything they verbally committed to is potentially off the table, but yet they have the pressure to sign their NLI a few weeks after the new coach comes in.
Sure, those kids can wait until the February signing day. But most recruits sign early, so by mid-winter, rosters can fill. 85 scholarship limits can be met. And the “business” of recruiting can get the best of them.
Eliminating the Early Signing Period will help to reduce or even eliminate a lot of these problems.
Final Thoughts on These Two Proposed NCAA Rule Changes
Early portal openings might aid student-athletes in getting their transfer applications done. But let’s be serious – is the NCAA really concerned about the student-athlete? If it was, there would be more restrictions and better enforcement of its rules (see University of North Carolina cheating scandal outcome).
Also, admittedly, there are benefits of an Early Signing Period. But do they outweigh the problems they cause?
The NCAA has a history of a laissez-faire style of governing on big issues. And they certainly have had their fair share of criticism of their inconsistencies in transfer eligibility rulings, especially with the latest news-making controversy involving UNC’s Tez Walker. (The irony in UNC’s response is almost laughable).
There is no perfect solution. Any way we look at it, there will be challenges to players, coaches, and schools. However, allowing so much to go down in just a few weeks of December is not the best answer.
The powers that be should make these two NCAA rule changes as soon as possible. It is too late for this season, but that should not deter them from making the necessary reform for the long haul (which, if they were wise, would include stronger management of the portal, as a large portion of players who enter the portal do not make it out).
On3 isn't the official portal, but in their tracking of last year's (2023) transfer portal activity, they had 62% finding a new home.
That's still pretty low. 38% went in and didn't come back out. https://t.co/mFo4IfNN0z pic.twitter.com/vl5o4wS6Bh
— Will Stewart (@WillStewartTSL) December 4, 2023
Think about it. Wouldn’t it be nice for fans to just enjoy their post-season and not have to lament their transfer losses and recruiting misses, and then worry about the potential impact on their school’s bowl game?
December is a festive month. Let’s keep it that way.
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