The Portal

[ronfitch]

What happens to all these kids that enter the portal and dont get picked up by another college? Are they just done with school unless they can play football?

Entering the portal only means they are exploring options to transfer and have asked their school's compliance officer to put their name in the portal.

Players may withdraw their name from it, though I am not sure if their schools are still bound to offer them anything (continued scholarship, opportunity to rejoin the team, etc.).

FBS numbers I found (still looking for FCS numbers): from August to late December, Rivals reports that more than 900 FBS players entered the portal, 243 did announce new schools and 32 removed their name from the portal. Six-hundred-thirty-six remain in the portal .... which could be good for FCS schools (source: https://thespun.com/college-football...ransfer-portal).

[clenz]

Per Sam Herder of Hero Sports

From a numbers perspective for the #FCS, there looks to be nearly 2.5 times more players going FBS-to-FCS than FCS-to-FBS this offseason. This was also the case two offseasons ago when we tracked both numbers


25 FCS-to-FCS
19 FCS-to-FBS
54 FBS-to-FCS

Turns out schools are gaining help from the FBS far more than they are losing to the FBS.

As for the number in the portal

Many/most end up continuing their career but aren't of the caliber of player that is going to attracted a ton of attention for where they go/sign. They don't make a big announcement out of it. They just enroll and continue their lives. Evn the most dedicated site at tracking transfers does little more than a quick search for 4 or 5 seconds to see if a big announcement was made and then they move on. Go look at the profiles for HS players on 247/Rivals and see how many end up still showing as uncommitted even after they've been in school for a few years. It's not uncommon. If they go sub D1 those sites aren't tracking those moves.

The vast majority of players in the portal aren't guys that were playing anyway. They are depth guys that are looking for a place that fits them better. They aren't going to garner headlines. Omar leaving is going to turns heads and notice. If Jordan Williams, Tate Storebeck, Tucker Langenberg, or Ryan Ostrich leave the program I bet 99.9% of UNI fans would have no idea and wouldn't even know they were on the roster to start with. I'd bet well over 95% of the portal is that kind of kid.

There is also a large number of players in the portal that are likely just done playing but taking one final look around to see if there is a potential home for them that feels like it could keep them wanting to play. So many get to college, realize the level of commitment and love for the game they need just isn't there. Maybe it's because it's just not there or maybe because it's not there with the program/coach. So they enter the portal, see if anyone is able to interest them, and if not they just move on from football.

The portal isn't an issue. You're going to win some. You're going to lose some. The level of "you have to stay here and meet my expectations of loyalty as a fan" is just silly. Maybe they transfer to a program that isn't as good. Big deal. Maybe they are happier there and were miserable where they were.

No one gives a **** when random straight A bio-chem major transfers to another school to fit their needs better. It is so insane that we put a different level of pressure on a kid to not do it simply because he wears the color football uniform that I cheer for.