Talk to football coaches and they overwhelming support eliminating the spring transfer window. Louisville coach Jeff Brohm is for it. Kentucky coach Mark Stoops is for it. The NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision’s oversight committee was all in, too, as it voted to approve the proposal last week.
It’s considered a formality at this point, but to become official, the measure now has to be approved by the Division I administrative committee, which is expected to vote on it before Oct. 1.
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Pending the approval, the lone transfer window for players in FBS would cover a 10-day span in January beginning one day after the College Football Playoff quarterfinals are played.
One window is the right way to go.
Only problem is they’re looking to close the wrong window.
The coaches that are for it champion the move because they view it as bringing some stability to their roster. No more feeling like a position of need has been filled in the winter transfer window only to see said transfer leave after spring practice.
Things have gotten so out of hand, many programs have stopped playing traditional spring games out of fear of losing players in the portal through tampering or otherwise.
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Brohm has been on both sides of the issue.
Cam’Ron Kelly had enrolled at Virginia in the first transfer window after the 2022 season. After going through spring practice with the Cavaliers, he transferred to play during Brohm’s first season at U of L in 2023.
Kelly ended up being a starting safety, helped single-handedly beat N.C. State in a road game and played for the Cards team that reached its first ACC championship game.
Pretty good for a spring transfer.
Peny Boone represented the downside of two transfer windows for the Cards. He was considered one of the top running backs available in the transfer portal after the 2023 season.
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The transfer from Toledo was the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year after ranking eighth nationally with 1,400 yards rushing.
Boone competed in 2024 spring practice with the Cards; he ultimately didn’t like his position on the depth chart and transferred to UCF before playing a down at U of L.
The spring window leads to more transfers because the January window leads to bad fits.
Think about it, players have to make hasty decisions between leaving their old schools, a lot of times not playing in a bowl game because they have to spend time finding a new school.
The timer moves faster in the winter, too, because most schools are returning to classes that second week of January and players have to move quickly to enroll.
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It leads to recruiting like it’s speed dating. Sit in front of a coach, hear the best pitch and move on to hear the next spiel in two minutes or less. Now try making an informed decision off that.
Coaches have taken players who ended up not being in line with the culture they’re trying to establish. Players have ended up going to schools they don’t want to stay at because they were wooed by the right compensation and playing time that sounded promising.
Having just a January window would effectively punish the four teams that advanced in the CFP. It could possibly thin their depth as players looking to transfer would have to leave the team with possibly two games remaining in order to find their new schools.
Keeping the spring window and eliminating the January one would at least allow both coaches and players to better focus on finding the right fit. That, more than anything else, is what brings stability to a roster.
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What would really make this a no-brainer was if the oversight committee paired a spring transfer window with a proposal to allow a few more hours of summer practice. That would help transfers acclimate to their new systems a bit easier. (To be clear, most starting jobs are solidified during August camp, so not participating during spring drills wouldn’t be as important as it would seem on the surface.)
All are in agreement only one window is needed for transfers in football. In closing the spring window, the committee and the coaches are unknowingly about to cut off their breeze.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: NCAA football should close January transfer window. Here’s why
