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OP/ED
The Transfer Portal has opened this past week, allowing many college football players to transfer out and find a new home.
Texas State has seen nine players enter the Transfer Portal following the end of the 2024 regular season, including star running back Ismail Mahdi who leaves the program with over 2,300 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.
The Bobcats bowl opponent, North Texas, has seen 15 players enter the Transfer Portal, including quarterback Chandler Morris and leading wide receiver D.T Sheffield.
As usual, the Transfer Portal brings out many voices on their displeasure of players transferring out in addition to the Name, Image and Likeness adding diesel to the bonfire of the situation.
While many people believe that the Transfer Portal is the worst thing that has happened to college football, I am firmly on the side of players and their decision to transfer to other programs.
It is sometimes hard to look back on what the transfer process was like before the transfer portal. But before 2018, players had a tough time trying to transfer from schools. In some conferences, players were banned from transferring to another school in the same conference, allowing coaches to have a say where a player can transfer too.
In the same vein, a coach could up and leave the school for another job without facing similar obstacles.
History has also shown that players who transfer to new programs have been able to blossom into superstars.
One of the most famous examples here at Texas State is the story of Barrick Nealy.
A quarterback who transferred from Houston, Nealy came to Texas State where he became the first 3,000-yard passer in school history in his first season. In his senior season, Nealy helped lead the Bobcats to their first conference championship since 1983 and a postseason run to the FCS semifinals.
The most recent example at Texas State is Mahdi.
A running back who was under recruited in high school, Mahdi first played at Houston Christian before joining the Bobcats in 2023.
Mahdi became the first Bobcat running back to rush for 1,000 yards since Robert Lowe in 2013 and the first to rush over 1,300 yards since Claude Mathis. Mahdi helped lead the Bobcats to their first ever bowl game and win during the season, cementing his status as a Bobcat legend.
Even Head Coach G.J. Kinne saw the benefits of transferring, coming out of Texas to Tulsa where he broke many passing records for the Golden Hurricanes.
But if there is an issue with the Transfer Portal that must be rectified, it is the schedule and timing of it.
Currently, the transfer portal opens on Dec. 8 before closing on Dec. 28. The portal was then reopened on April 16 before closing again on April 15.
Part of the reason for this is that the portal works hand in hand with the school spring and winter semester schedules, but it forces coaches to be constantly recruiting players and risking burnout.
If the dates of the transfer portal can be fixed properly, some of the issues with the portal will be resolved.
But ultimately, a big way to help with the number of transfers in college football is proper guidance for players.
Unfortunately in college football, many players are influenced by bad faith actors with the enticement of NIL money that may or may not exist.
It is a situation playing out in Tulsa where allegedly many players for the Golden Hurricanes were promised thousands of dollars in NIL funds only to be told that those funds do not exist.
There needs to be a better support system for players that gives them the truth about their need to transfer.
The need to transfer can be a number of things, being close to home, a change in the coaching staff, an opportunity to play at higher level and a need to secure NIL funds for the family or others.
By giving the players a much needed support system that looks out for the needs of the player rather than the needs of the football team, you can curb the number of transfers from each school.
Players should always come first when it comes to college athletics where they earn a fraction of their earnings in a billion dollar business that is the NCAA. By protecting our athletes, we can ensure a better and more sustainable future in college athletics.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
