There is nothing quite as shameless as a football coach facing the threat of a loss of player control.
Coaches view the loosening of transfer restrictions as running counter to values they promote in their programs. Many cite stories of how older players fought through adversity early in their careers, stayed with the program and became stars or major contributors.
“We have seen kids that have entered the transfer portal and haven’t been on campus for a semester,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “How do you learn to overcome adversity and fight through battles and learn to compete? I worry about that for our sport; I worry about that for kids and our country. The path of least resistance very rarely is the answer. How do you have discipline and structure and tough conversations in your program if there’s always a Plan B, an outlet with no real repercussions?”
A question that I’m sure more than a few Vanderbilt fans asked themselves when Franklin up and left for Penn State.
Coaches generally like the portal itself and don’t oppose graduate transfers making moves without having to sit out a season. Their beef is with the percentage of waivers being granted and the reasoning behind those approvals.
“It’s too easy right now,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. “It’s too easy to let kids quit.”
Umm… they’re not quitting. They’re still playing, just for another coach, Dave.
Added Shaw: “The hopscotch approach to college really hinders their ability to have success in life.”
Yeah, just look how things have turned out for Baker Mayfield.
“There’s 1,000 kids in the portal right now,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “Everyone wants to talk about player safety. What happens when a position group has three less guys left in it? I don’t think we can manage our rosters the way we used to be able to.”
Penn State had 11 players enter the transfer portal this winter, although most have graduated (a 12th, safety Lamont Wade, entered the portal but then withdrew and will remain with the Nittany Lions). PSU also had five underclassmen enter the NFL draft.
“That’s probably the biggest challenge for administration, as well as coaches: How do you ever know who’s actually on your roster and who’s not?” Franklin said. “A lot of coaches have said as soon as you enter the transfer portal, they’re going to take you off scholarship, but that’s another problem with this. They’ve left it kind of gray that each school and each coach can handle it differently.
“You’re in a very, very challenging position in terms of managing your roster, how to recruit, all those types of things.”
These guys are paid hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars, to manage football programs. It must really suck to have to work a little harder at a well-paid job.
But let’s hear it for TCU’s Gary Patterson, who manages the most shameless quote of all:
Patterson admits he’s “just as guilty” of adding two graduate transfers this year, in quarterback Alex Delton (Kansas State) and defensive end Shameik Blackshear (South Carolina).
“The portal will get worse — transfers, waivers — if we don’t do something about it,” Patterson said. “And, eventually, we’re going to hurt the high school senior.”
Yeah, let’s do it for the kids who aren’t even in your program yet! Gary, I hate to tell you what the fix for the unfortunate high school senior who gets screwed by your call to bring in a transfer player at his position ought to be.
These people.
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UPDATE: Speaking of those high school seniors…
Get The Picture 
While I agree that plasters should stock it and fight through adversity, I think coaches should too. How about this for a compromise- players commit to universities for 4 years and vice versa. They cannot xfer without sitting out a year unless the head coach leaves.
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How about we just start with coaches being honest about what’s going on and take things from there?
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Why is the effect of transferring so different for football and basketball players than it is for athletes who transfer but play other sports where there is no penalty for transferring?
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I’m sure there may be a few specific instances where it is not the case but in general I think what they are saying is exactly correct. I really do not see how there is a contrary argument. It’s funny to me that all the “concern” for the players from many on this blog are only for those leaving/transferring with out regard to the many more players that are left.
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Yes, I’m sure Georgia will be devastated this season in Fields’ absence.
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If Fromm gets hurt they surely will be.
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So, “stay at UGA as injury insurance” is what it boils down to for Justin Fields?
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Stay with the team mates who all want to play just like he does, some of whom are there because he was there. Be committed to something bigger than yourself at least through your sophomore season and then see where you are.
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Why wait through your sophomore season? Does the something bigger suddenly shrink then? That sounds pretty arbitrary.
Since we’re playing the “if” game here, if Fromm stays for four years, Fields is looking at one season as UGA’s starter. At OSU, he’s going to start for a longer period of time at a program that’s got his predecessor looking like a sure fire top 10 pick in this year’s NFL draft. The monetary potential for transferring is pretty big.
I understand your reasoning, but in a world where star junior players leave early for the NFL, it’s not a realistic expectation anymore.
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“Does the something bigger suddenly shrink then?” No. But staying only one year says everyone on your team but you is irrelevant. Where as at least after two years you have given them some consideration.
“if Fromm stays for four years,” That is another reason why I said two might be reasonable. Personally I do not think except for true hardship cases (illness of family etc.) the transfer portal should only be open after the declaration day for the NFL to March 1st. That would alleviate a lot of the guess work for everyone involved.
“it’s not a realistic expectation anymore” I personally think expecting people to consider other peoples interest as well as their own is always realistic.
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You’re not a head coach, then.
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I generally agree that football as we love it will still go on , and five years from now these kinds of quotes will have faded to distant memory. Heck , we’re already laughing at the “sky is falling” cries
I do think it’s time we quit comparing player transfers to coaches changing jobs. It’s always convenient to point to , but’s it’s cheap.
Coaches have contracts – if one side breaks it the other side is compensated.
Schools invest heavily in players and receive nothing when they bolt. (Not crying for the school here, just pointing out a difference)
Coaches have 40 year careers and have ample time to recover from a few years that don’t boost their resume.
For most college players , the iron is only hot for 2-3 years. It’s a different pressure.
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Only if there’s a buyout clause in the contract. Does that mean it’s still okay to compare player transfers to coaches jumping ship if there’s no buy out to be paid?
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Does a lack of a buyout also mean that players will have 40 years to impress the NFL ?
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I don’t understand the point you’re making here. Of course coaches’ freedom to move is relevant, because they’re the same people making the absurd argument about how player transfers are an indication of character. What does 40 years to impress the NFL have to do with anything? How many head coaches have 40-year careers, anyway?
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I’m not taking a position here on the merits of the decisions by either the coaches or the players.
The “If the coaches are able to do it” argument ignores relevant differences.
James Franklin can break a contract , take a new job , AND have a credible opinion on the cons of player transfers without hypocrisy because they are completely different scenarios –
It’s too easy to point to the obvious similarity that they are both leaving a school.
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You keep focusing on the business decision end, claiming they’re different kinds of decisions.
I’m pointing out that when these coaches try to make some sort of life lesson argument against players transferring, they’re FOS based on their own examples. They lack standing to pontificate about that.
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Well dang , should they even have the standing to coach ? To lead men ? Aren’t life lessons inherent in sport ?
By your logic anybody who ever took a better opportunity doesn’t have anything worthwhile to listen to.
I guess if that’s the argument you’re making , I can respect the hard line. Anything less than that, though, and I’d have to accuse you of being arbitrary!
Which is it ?
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Whoa, hoss. Nothing wrong with taking a better opportunity. It’s hypocritical, though, to tell kids that’s okay for me, but not for you. If you don’t think that’s a life lesson of its own, cool for you.
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Are all “it’s ok for me but not for you” arguments made by hypocrites? Or is it possible that sometimes it really is ok for me and not you ?
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I’d like to hear Gary Patterson’s answer to that.
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Here’s another difference that kinda makes the comparison irrelevant. Many non head coaches move to avoid the chopping block–a chopping block that, unless you’re uber-fond of the medical DQ, is less forgiving for coaches than players. I say less forgiving when looked at their career as a percentage timeline—most players who follow the rules and try hard, but nonetheless underwhelm their entire career are not at risk of having their world cut out from under them. Coordinators and position coaches have to constantly outrun the grim reaper with Scarlet M’s (“mediocre”).
Hell, the moment Kirby didn’t match Chaney’s offer from Tennessee, his goose was cooked at Georgia from a longevity standpoint.
I would also add that these players are 18-22 yrs old. We seem to treat them like kids when it’s convenient and like adults when it’s convenient. All sides. But at the end of the day, 18-22 yr olds just really don’t have a whole lot of bargaining power YET in the adult world. They are welcome to apply for head coaching and coordinator jobs if they like the coaching side of the aisle better (good luck). They are also free to petition the Alliance of American Football to take kids straight out of high school. Go compete with Aaron Murray for the backup QB job young buc ! ! There are some times in people’s life where they either smile and follow the rules (like a kid I guess) or, if they want to play big boy, then fuck off and go figure out yourself how to make all the money. You don’t get a paved road AND equity out of the gate. Sorry.
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I don’t even begin to know what you’re trying to argue here. Chaney left because he got a huge raise. WTF does longevity have to do with it?
By the way, ever notice how many coaches keep getting rehired despite underwhelming their entire careers? There’s no such thing as a good ole boys’ network for players.
As far as your last paragraph, legally, once you’re 18, you’re an adult. As far as the rest of it goes, that’s a matter of leverage. Justin Fields seems to have done just fine in that regard.
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Agreed. Fields played his hand like a shark. But you’re still the one arguing that the NCAA (and the schools it represents) should abandon all leverage they still may have.
Since I just flat out disagree that unrestricted free agency is a good thing, I would support them in telling 18-22 yr olds (as a whole) to pound sand, and we can agree to disagree. 🙂
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Damn, man, I’m not arguing any such thing.
There’s a good rationale for some transfer limits, but unless coaches are willing to drop the bullshit and stop seeing this in character terms, we’re not gonna get that. The NCAA’s opening the doors, with or without the coaches.
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jhorne200 what exactly does the school lose when a player transfers? All the assets the school invests in player remain after his departure and are invested in that players replacement.
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And the value of the scholarship is nominal to the school. They have almost nothing invested in a single player.
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Time. Recruiting. Coaching. Training & Nutrition. If you add all that up I bet it dwarfs the actual scholarship value.
But that’s not exactly the point. The point is that it’s not a fair comparison.
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but the cost to the football team for coaching a single additional player is fairly nominal. Schools have very little extra resources spent on any single player.
It’s the loss of control that the coaches value the most.
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I can’t disagree with any of that. Further, I can agree that the coaches’ arguments against players transferring are likely disingenuous.
I just think the two situations (players leaving and coaches leaving) are so different that it’s flawed to use one as any justification for the other.
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Well of course they’re different. The coaches are contracted employees while the players fall more under the “indentured servitude” model of compensation.
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Bottom line is that it makes them have to work harder, and that’s ultimately all they really care about. The rest is caca, of course.
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I was one of the sky is falling people when this started. The NCAA is saying they don’t want to be the limiting factor for a player to transfer as a undergrad. Listening to the coaches quotes I can see the conferences putting its own stipulations on undergrad player transfers. Something to the effect of sitting a year if transferring in conference or-if harsher sitting a year if transferring in the power 5. The free agency will be decided this year by what types of transfers are granted and total % of transfers granted and the conference will react with their own amended rules to keep the coaches happy.
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I agree there is a double-standard of sorts, but the thing I feel you always neglect, either intentionally or not, is that the coaching moves are not usually because things are a struggle at the current stop. They are typically (and, obviously, you can dig up some examples to the contrary) done through the absolute guarantee of more money and/or more prestige.
For a lot of these kids, there’s guarantee of jack shit, other than possibly (sometimes probably) not sitting behind another player.
So, while a lot of these coaches’ comments are self-serving for sure, they’re not without some validity, imo. A lot of these kids are giving a school a shot for a year, and then when it is apparent they’re not going to all be Mr. Shithouse right away, they tuck tail and run to the next spot. For some, it probably does make sense and is not done out of lack of competitiveness, but strictly because it’s a better ‘business’ move. For a lot, and this is the valid part, I think it is turning into a culture of just straight-up quitting (and it is quitting in some manner of speaking, even though, yes, they are still planning on playing football somewhere).
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I’m not the skilled armchair psychiatrist you are, so I’m going to have to defer to your insight into the minds of 18-year olds.
All I can say in response is that this is ultimately a fight over control of players’ careers. Coaches obviously are resistant to relinquishing any of that, even while, as Gary Patterson admits, being happy to be on the receiving end of it. If you want to excuse that as a new cultural thing, knock yourself out. I tend to think hypocrisy is a timeless human quality.
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I see. Insight into the coaches’ minds via their comments or actions is fine, but it’s a bridge too far to suppose what the motivations are for a lot of these kids.
I agree that it’s ultimately over player control. My only point here was that some of their points are valid, even if we can assume their essentially window dressing for their true, or at least prevailing motivations.
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I’m not making insights into coaches’ minds. I’m merely pointing out the hypocrisy of “do as I say, not as I do”. You don’t need to do any mind reading with Gary Patterson.
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Jordan McNair didn’t quit. Bet his parents wished he had been a quitter and transferred.
Is DJ Durkin possible in a world where 20 kids can hit the transfer portal at any time?
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High school football coaches in my time and place were legendary for abusing their power. Justified it as building character. Because they determined who made the team and who played. The ultimate power.
And then other sports exploded, and suddenly they had to start being nice. Recruiting within their own student body. Finding a way to make summer workouts fun. And now it’s 7 on 7 tournaments during the summer, linemen competitions, and reasonable conditioning work. Players are still showing up at 7 am to lift. Just not lift and get cussed at.
College football will be fine.
Going to be interesting to see which one goes there first: blaming a tough regular season loss on the transfer portal.
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ASEF I can see a coach who laments his lock down corner transferred, his number two got injured and his number three simply got burned because he hasn’t yet developed into the player he will someday be. Not my fault. Of course, it won’t stop him from taking a better offer before that kid prime time ready.
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Hey Senator, while we’re debating the movement of coaches and players, I’m just wondering. Has any school ever attempted not to allow a coach out of their contract? You know, said ‘no we’re not letting you leave, if you want out you’re going to have to sue us?’ I know buyouts are common practice now but that hasn’t always been the case.
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Not sure how that would work. Bielema did have his assistants sign non-compete clauses, but I doubt any self-respecting agent would let a head coach sign a contract with one. In the absence of that, how do you literally force someone to stay? Seems to me it would be the school suing the coach, not vice versa.
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I agree it would be kind of crazy. I just didn’t know if it had ever happened. It can be difficult to overestimate human stupidity.
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Specific performance in contracts that are entirely for personal service are generally unenforceable because how do you enforce an agreement requiring mutual confidence and trust when that mutual confidence and trust has by definition eroded ?
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It seems Kentucky tried to do that with their DC last week, but now it’s being reported that circumstances have changed again.
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/kentucky-football/matt-house-kentucky-wildcats-kansas-city-chiefs-defensive-coordinator-2019/
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Can’t blame Patterson for taking Delton at QB. His aide accidentally wrote down “Dalton” so of course he took him.
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Rule as it is now states that athletes must show “the transfer is due to documented mitigating circumstances that…directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete.”
Someone called Fields a dirty name from the stands. Did that affect his health, safety, or well-being? I’m confused.
I agree with this from Gary Patterson: “In how many households are the teenagers making decisions? Why are we sitting here saying they need more leverage?” The coaches who change jobs are all adults; Justin Fields is 19 years old.
One other thing: As a UGA alum and season ticket holder, I’m about to make a Commitment To The G this week. I’d like for the athletes I’m supporting to be just as committed as I am to the University of Georgia, which is not a professional sports franchise but a school at which I applied my own talents for (over) 4 years to receive a degree of which I’m very proud.
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Read the Jay Bilas comment in the update.
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Bilas: “So, players are smart enough to decide their future while in high school, but can’t be trusted to do so after actually experiencing college?”
Don’t you imagine there’s a lot of family input into a high-school kid’s decision about where to attend college?
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I take it you’d be okay with a player transferring as long as he had a note from his mom, then.
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Well, if she’s the kind of mom who’d tell her teenager it’s OK to break a commitment he made, no.
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Does that apply to kids who verbal to one school and then sign with another?
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Parents are usually deeply involved in the transfer decision as well. In a lot of cases, it’s a parent pushing the transfer.
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Something about being thought a fool but opening your mouth to remove all doubt.
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If a coach leaves before his contract is up he pays a penalty, Players should do the same if they transfer as an undergraduate they should have to sit a year but that year should not count against Red Shirts or their 4 years of eligibility. Free transfer is giving freebies to the players.
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I didn’t know players signed contracts.
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They sign scholarships
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Scholarships aren’t contracts. Players aren’t employees. Football isn’t a job.
Except when it’s convenient to argue otherwise.
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If it isn’t a job, they shouldn’t get paid and shouldn’t be able to market their uniforms.
Except when it’s convenient to argue otherwise.
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I didn’t realize only people with jobs could market their names, likenesses and images. That is convenient.
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Tell that to the IRS.
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Wut
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James Franklin: $5,600,000/year
Dave Clawson: $1,800,000/year
David Shaw: $4,300,000/year
Dave Doeren: $3,000,000/year
Gary Patterson: $4,800,000/year
Methinks these figures indicate more than adequate compensation to deal with the minor issue of players transferring in and out.
Shut up and do your job.
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What I’m saying…….
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Can make all the warm and fuzzies you wish, but you are naive to think increased, and sudden, turnover will not diminish the product. Imagine the impact on any organization that is based on specialists seeing high, annual turnover. Not only is your immediate efficiency disrupted, but the time to train replacements drains your staff of time that could have been spent improving on your current performance. And that is just for the historical turnover due to attrition from graduations, dropouts, injuries, etc., now add the expansion of that turnover when the portal grows. A mess, and better planning will not lesson it much.
Coaches can see grad transfers coming in advance, just the latest increase of portal exploration has surprised even the best of coaches, wait until we see how many opt for this now that the NCAA has laid down. I am all for the grad transfer process, but this is a mistake. And while some players may benefit, many more will make terrible decisions and lose themselves in the system as they lose their place in a new system, and find out the grass actually isn’t greener, and they weren’t as good as they thought.
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Isn’t that how life works, Mac? Why should this be any different?
I’m sure Ohio State is worried about a disruption in efficiency after Fields’ signing.
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They should be…Prince of Panic and all.
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If they’re not as good as they thought, that’s going to play out wherever they stay or go. Mobility has zero to do with that issue.
Increased mobility places emphasis on honest recruiting and straight-forward expectations. Players being treated as people and not commodities or a means to an end.
Sure, the increased level of freedom means some poor decisions will get made – but it also means some poor decisions will get rectified. Auburn had another former 5 star hit the portal this week. OL. He’s been at Auburn two years now, and it sounds like he and his family have seen enough.
I used to worry about it, but I’ve been converted. Bottom line: I trust kids and families to make better decisions over the long hail than coaches and ADs. James Franklin can whine all he wants to about being denied the opportunity to build character in this young man or that that one. Because he’s not in the character building business. He’s in the Get James Franklin Paid business. Just like every other coach in college football.
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If you want to discuss whether loosening transfer restrictions is a good or bad idea, fine, there’s a debate there. But when you start talking about it as eroding our patriotic ideals, as James Franklin seemed to imply, that’s when I tune you all the way out.
These coaches clearly have no sense of how ridiculous they sound when they issue sweeping pronouncements like this, but when you’ve held all the power in a given situation for eons and never had to answer to anyone, I can see how your sense of self-awareness might start to flag a bit.
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I mean, it’s James Franklin.
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From a different perception, rather from a coaches stand point but also affecting the Team’s Chemistry.
Team chemistry or mojo is as important as the Team’s level of Talent. I think all Dawg people knew the Dawgs We saw at LSU and Texas were a different group.
There was bad vibes coming into and through the season. Sure within a group of 85 and with walk-ons 110+ everyone is not going to get along. Depending on which side of the ball your on you may even know the 4th D end if your in the WR room.
I propose that the 18’ Dawgs had skeletons in the closets. Why, chemistry it’s great to be acknowledged by another company when they call and set up a meeting to discuss your resume. Even greater when they call you back to discuss salary, Vaction-Sick days, and retirement packages.
Then you show up for work on Monday morning and all the things that was gravy during your meetings turns South when everyone your working with or at some turn out to be AH’s.
Don’t get me wrong I am glad Kirbs is roster managing to the best of his ability. Unfortunately all coaches now are at DEFCON 5*. They have Their finger on the button. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. More players chose to leave this year than in years past and I do hope who ever gave theses kids advice to turn pro had the kids interest at heart instead of their wallet. Just saying I think there was 2-3 Dawgs might have benefitted by another year. In reality just 1 of 50 kids that decided to forego their senior year will be on a NFL roster.
The kids have three options their coaches accessment, agents accessment and what their parent or parents tell them what is best. Which one is the best reasoning for the kid ? Certainly not anyone of those have the kids total interest at heart. The coach is trying to open up a spot for a 5* and the agent is looking to add to his stable and the parents see the young man as a lotto winner. Same goes for the portal.
You ever been to a big horse race and in the stable area. The horses have just one handler and kept totally away from any distraction. To start a comfort horse is brought in to go side by side till they reach the gate. Imagine if you were to put two, three of those horses in the same stall. That’s what you can get from the portal.
You can get a winner or you can have a fight that totally destroys the stall, err locker room. It can help you or destroy you !
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I absolutely hate the way that CFB is turning into free agency for players.
I also see some use in letting players transfer if the head coach decides to leave the program. Why can’t we draft rules like this? If the head coach leaves within a year of signing, then those players that he signed can transfer with no penalty and get immediate playing time.
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There ought to be some limits on transfers, but it’s hard to see how a rational approach to that can be fashioned until coaches are a little more honest about what’s going on.
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Has the feel of a justification of two wrongs making a right to me. I don’t condone contracts being broken by either party without significant penalty. I think scholarships should be guaranteed for 4 years too, but sitting the year for transfers should be strictly enforced as it was before. Grad transfers exempted. Coaches pay their buyout, then sit for a year if they leave before contract has expired. Coaches fired for cause (yes, Urbie), should also be restricted from NCAA employment for a variable period of 1-? years. Make it tough on both sides, but don’t set rules you will not enforce, and restore some integrity. Won’t happen, but there was a time where we didn’t smirk at contracts/agreements. And it didn’t have to be over.
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Mac, I understand where you’re coming from, but in one breath, you like to argue that players aren’t employees and in the next, players sign contracts. I don’t see how you can have things both ways here.
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I’ve often thought that it must really suck to be a top HS player, get recruited to a team like UGA with visions of being a starter, then having someone get recruited the next year that jumps in front of you on the depth chart because they’re better or you get injured and you no longer get any PT. I’d have to say that would be very frustrating to me and if my goal was to play in the NFL, then I think I’d want the chance to go to a place where perhaps I could achieve that goal and not have to go to a junior college or lose a year of eligibility to do so.
I think Ben Cleveland is a great example of this and I’m not saying that this is going to happen but hear me out. He breaks his leg playing for the team he has dedicated himself to and then potentially gets jumped on the roster and doesn’t make it back into the starting rotation. Wouldn’t it be fair to allow him the chance to go to another school his junior and/or senior year to start and show what he can do so he can pursue a career?
Save the life lesson comment because if this happened to you at work you can pick up and leave for another job.
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Life lesson: knowing when to move on (cue Kenny Rogers in the background, You got to know when to hold ’em… know when to fold ’em…
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Does if a player transfers does the year he sits out count against his eligibility?
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Yes it does unless he uses his RS if its still available.
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Sorry about that, that was hard to read for such a simple question.:)
Yeah, that’s not cool.
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I understand your point and I think its valid. But there HAS to be some rules in place. Teams need stability with players if they want to win. Isn’t that the goal? To win games??
Players shouldn’t be able to transfer at the drop of a hat. There has to be some restrictions.
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Totally agree. Not sure what that is but it I don’t think it would be good for anyone or CFB to have a free-for-all situation.
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I find myself trying to get worked up over this subject, but damn, if you don’t want to be somewhere that you committed to, door, ass…get on down the road.
I do possibly think there needs to be some tinkering with the timing of the early signing date and the NFL draft declaration…maybe even a limited time to enter the “portal” for a transfer.
Hell, your teammates are worth letting know who wants to hang in there and play for the school.
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Good point. All these folks who were complaining about Fields being a cancer on the team last season — why would you want a cancer to stick around, anyway?
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I agree, glad the kid is gone. I’ve heard that behind closed doors some other kids on the team are too. The fellow I heard that from has been right about everything said…doubt if you wish. Our QB didn’t like getting pulled for zero reason when he was flat out lighting up Alabama this past Dec. I put that on Kirby.
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Not that tampering doesn’t exist in college athletics, seems as though the transfer portal can expedite such activities
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Actually, it’s the opposite. Once you’re in the portal, any coach can contact you. There is no tampering at that point.
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When an athlete (he/she) is recruited (pick a sport) the coach states “if you compete,there maybe a starting position on my available”, in the transfer portal the coach might or might not say “come to my team and oh hell yes you WILL be a starter”…at that point i would be leery of some serious tampering/promises/hand shaking going down. As in “free agency” an athlete/individual knows whats on the table and potentially selects the best option at that moment.
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Is a scholarship tuba player with the Red Coat Band able to transfer to another school without restrictions? If so, why should football players be any different? I think we all know the reason why the administration wants it to be different. Just one big, green, papery word. Gotta keep control of that inventory.
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