8,699 NCAA football players entered the portal between Aug. 1, 2022, and May 1, 2023

[BleedGopher]

Per Axios Sports:

The college football transfer portal's 2022-23 cycle ended earlier this month, and athletes yet again used the portal at a record clip, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

By the numbers: 8,699 NCAA football players entered the portal between Aug. 1, 2022, and May 1, 2023, per ESPN. That's a 5.5% increase over last year's then-record number (8,242) and more than double the tally from the inaugural 2018-19 cycle (4,076).

• Looking only at FBS transfers shows a similar increase, with a record 3,284 FBS players entering the portal.
• That's up 6.5% from last year (3,083) and roughly double 2018-19's tally (1,717), per 247 Sports.

Wild stat: That 3,284 figure means over 20% of all FBS players are looking to transfer this offseason. And it's not just benchwarmers, either.

• The top 20 teams in 247 Sports' transfer rankings added a combined 102 four-star players, including five schools who added at least seven such players.
• Those five schools: USC (9), Auburn (9), LSU (8), Ole Miss (8) and Florida State (7).

The intrigue: No team has used the portal quite like Colorado, which saw a record 71 players enter during this past cycle alone. That hyperactivity was by design, fueled by new coach Deion Sanders' desire to rebuild the Buffaloes from scratch following a 1-11 campaign.

• 61 of those 71 transfers entered the portal since Sanders' introduction in December, when he told players to "get ready to … jump in that portal" because "there's no way that I can put new furniture in this beautiful home if we don’t clean out the old furniture."
• Sanders has already filled 45 of those vacancies with incoming transfers, or "new furniture." That includes WR/CB Travis Hunter, the lone five-star player to switch programs this offseason and one of eight Jackson State players to follow Sanders to Boulder.

Go Gophers!!

 

[gopherphil]

It spells disaster for all you involved.

 

[FredCoxRocks]

I sure hope all that transferred end up somewhere.

 

[Tommyboy]

What does this say about the state of college recruiting?

 

[PMWinSTP]

What percentage found new schools?

 

[PMWinSTP]

I wonder how many players on a roster of 100 only make it onto the field for three or fewer plays during a season, excluding punter, kickers, and long snapper? 20, 30, 40? Figuring you rotate 20 on offense and defense, and 20 on special teams (figuring some overlap from offense and defense).

 

[MaxyJR1]

What percentage found new schools?

Do we think it's 50%. Starting to see a bunch of "retiring from football" tweets in the last couple days.

This seems to be a win win for most involved. Players wanted more freedom with the 1-time transfer and coaches are able to "dump players" through this system. If you're given a scholarship to play football and don't turn out, do you deserve the scholarship anymore? That becomes the debate.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Do we think it's 50%. Starting to see a bunch of "retiring from football" tweets in the last couple days.

This seems to be a win win for most involved. Players wanted more freedom with the 1-time transfer and coaches are able to "dump players" through this system. If you're given a scholarship to play football and don't turn out, do you deserve the scholarship anymore? That becomes the debate.

It has got to be close to that percentage.

 

[laazrakit]

What percentage found new schools?

That's a great question... another is how will this affect graduation rates?

 

[CoMn]

I sure hope all that transferred end up somewhere.

Let's hope they don't and players learn to appreciate what they have. The only way to stop this craziness is for it to not work out well for lots of the players.

 

[metrolax]

Well...perhaps the time is coming where CFB as we have had it is now outgrowing the college
relationship. Perhaps the NFL needs to start chipping in for its own minor league, and leave the colleges to produce their teams from their students like they once did. Put the "college" back in
college football. If that were to happen, the entire power structure of the sport will revert to what it was before WWII. Minnesota, Michigan, Army, the Ivy League will be great as they were before the influence of the NFL derelicted the sport.

 

[hungan1]

Per Axios Sports:

The college football transfer portal's 2022-23 cycle ended earlier this month, and athletes yet again used the portal at a record clip, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

By the numbers: 8,699 NCAA football players entered the portal between Aug. 1, 2022, and May 1, 2023, per ESPN. That's a 5.5% increase over last year's then-record number (8,242) and more than double the tally from the inaugural 2018-19 cycle (4,076).

• Looking only at FBS transfers shows a similar increase, with a record 3,284 FBS players entering the portal.
• That's up 6.5% from last year (3,083) and roughly double 2018-19's tally (1,717), per 247 Sports.

Wild stat: That 3,284 figure means over 20% of all FBS players are looking to transfer this offseason. And it's not just benchwarmers, either.

• The top 20 teams in 247 Sports' transfer rankings added a combined 102 four-star players, including five schools who added at least seven such players.
• Those five schools: USC (9), Auburn (9), LSU (8), Ole Miss (8) and Florida State (7).

The intrigue: No team has used the portal quite like Colorado, which saw a record 71 players enter during this past cycle alone. That hyperactivity was by design, fueled by new coach Deion Sanders' desire to rebuild the Buffaloes from scratch following a 1-11 campaign.

• 61 of those 71 transfers entered the portal since Sanders' introduction in December, when he told players to "get ready to … jump in that portal" because "there's no way that I can put new furniture in this beautiful home if we don’t clean out the old furniture."
• Sanders has already filled 45 of those vacancies with incoming transfers, or "new furniture." That includes WR/CB Travis Hunter, the lone five-star player to switch programs this offseason and one of eight Jackson State players to follow Sanders to Boulder.

Go Gophers!!

I get it that Prime Time wants to go prime-time from the get-go. Comparing kids to discarded furniture is downright tacky.

If he is successful, people's memory of the carnage will be forgotten.

 

[hungan1]

Well...perhaps the time is coming where CFB as we have had it is now outgrowing the college
relationship. Perhaps the NFL needs to start chipping in for its own minor league, and leave the colleges to produce their teams from their students like they once did. Put the "college" back in
college football. If that were to happen, the entire power structure of the sport will revert to what it was before WWII. Minnesota, Michigan, Army, the Ivy League will be great as they were before the influence of the NFL derelicted the sport.

There is too much money at stake. Sports networks are happy when they make money. The NFL doesn't want the added expense of running a minor league. What they can do is expand the practice squad rosters.

 

[highwayman]

Perhaps the NFL needs to start chipping in for its own minor league, and leave the colleges to produce their teams from their students like they once did.

You’re kidding, right? The NFL don’t give a shit.

 

[SanDiegoGopherFan]

Do we think it's 50%. Starting to see a bunch of "retiring from football" tweets in the last couple days.

This seems to be a win win for most involved. Players wanted more freedom with the 1-time transfer and coaches are able to "dump players" through this system. If you're given a scholarship to play football and don't turn out, do you deserve the scholarship anymore? That becomes the debate.

That stat was provided last year, dont remember were, but it was a surprising number (low)

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Do we think it's 50%. Starting to see a bunch of "retiring from football" tweets in the last couple days.

This seems to be a win win for most involved. Players wanted more freedom with the 1-time transfer and coaches are able to "dump players" through this system. If you're given a scholarship to play football and don't turn out, do you deserve the scholarship anymore? That becomes the debate.

I mean, it's a win-win for some schools and some players.

There are going to be considerably fewer players who graduate from the school they started (probably graduate at all) in order to pay for this freedom for coaching staffs/players. There will be more players pushed out than helped by this. I am okay with that, but it isn't a win for them.

 

[Panthadad2]

Well...perhaps the time is coming where CFB as we have had it is now outgrowing the college
relationship. Perhaps the NFL needs to start chipping in for its own minor league, and leave the colleges to produce their teams from their students like they once did. Put the "college" back in
college football. If that were to happen, the entire power structure of the sport will revert to what it was before WWII. Minnesota, Michigan, Army, the Ivy League will be great as they were before the influence of the NFL derelicted the sport.

College football was just as money hungry in the early days as it is now. Recruiting was truly the wild west. Dave Revsine's very good book "The Opening Kickoff" covered it.

 

[Tommyboy]

I get it that Prime Time wants to go prime-time from the get-go. Comparing kids to discarded furniture is downright tacky.

If he is successful, people's memory of the carnage will be forgotten.

If you polled all these kids while being recruited and then 4 years later, you would probably see how shitty they are treated by the majority of coaches. The coaches do not have much accountability for their actions. Where can you earn 5 million a year, the coaches disregard the same employees they recruited as teenagers., shove them under the rug. You cannot even act that way in the army, because women are involved. Even the President of the United States was fined 5 million for an interaction 25 years ago.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

Slaves no more

If the transferee hopefuls are scholarship players the percentage churn is closer to 30%. Combined with seniors and retirees roster churn might approach an NFL-like 50% each year? I can’t keep up.

 

[goldenboy]

I don’t know about football, but approximately 10% of the basketball portal jumpers last year were left without a team when the music stopped (if the 24/7 listing was kept up to date—and I believe it was) as I counted them up to satisfy my curiosity. Not going to go through the FB list (just too many). Some likely drop down a level (or two) and keep playing, but some end up out of school.

 

[PMWinSTP]

If you polled all these kids while being recruited and then 4 years later, you would probably see how shitty they are treated by the majority of coaches. The coaches do not have much accountability for their actions. Where can you earn 5 million a year, the coaches disregard the same employees they recruited as teenagers., shove them under the rug. You cannot even act that way in the army, because women are involved. Even the President of the United States was fined 5 million for an interaction 25 years ago.

Glad you got this off your chest. Good grief.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

What % of college students transfer? Quick research shows higher %s than football players.

 

[hungan1]

Coaches can be very encouraging to lead you to the portal door. Once the benevolent coaches cajole the players to utter the "T" word, are the universities and teams off the hook to pay for a college education if they don't find a landing spot? What if it is the players that voluntarily initiated it?

Is Colorado U on the hook for the 61 out-transfers if they don't find a landing spot?

 

[WAGopher]

Coaches can be very encouraging to lead you to the portal door. Once the benevolent coaches cajole the players to utter the "T" word, are the universities and teams off the hook to pay for a college education if they don't find a landing spot? What if it is the players that voluntarily initiated it?

Is Colorado U on the hook for the 61 out-transfers if they don't find a landing spot?

I’ve wondered that too. I know if they don’t transfer schools still honor the scholarship for academics. But what happens if they enter the portal? Hopefully, they still get the scholarship until they transfer.

 

[#2Gopher]

Must be pretty busy at the NCCA office deciding who is granted an extra year, exemption, or whatever.

 

[Word]

Must be pretty busy at the NCCA office deciding who is granted an extra year, exemption, or whatever.

Flipping coins is easy though.