The complaining is deafening and everpresent.
“It’s chaos right now. Tampering galore. Adults manipulating young men,” said Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, long the most prominent opponent of the transfer portal, who recently softened his stance and offered Louisiana transfer O’Cyrus Torrence this week. “Education is like the last thing now.”
“Out of control,” one Power 5 coach told The Athletic.
Neither is wrong. College football got a lot less exploitative in the past year, but it also got way, way more chaotic. In the past two months, more than 1,500 FBS players have entered the transfer portal, seeking a new home to continue their college football careers.
As he built his new staff, Florida head coach Billy Napier hired former NFL scout Bird Sherrill to essentially oversee all recruiting of the transfer portal. It’s currently a rarity, but it’ll become very common soon.
Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams led Oklahoma to an Alamo Bowl victory on Dec. 29, then, less than a week later, turned down the opportunity to be the Sooners’ starting quarterback under new offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby in 2022. Like Spencer Rattler, the preseason Heisman candidate he usurped as starter midseason,
