- The NCAA introduces a single transfer portal window from Jan. 2-16 annually.
- Kyle Whittingham supports the change, citing reduced instability for team rosters.
- Coaches nationwide, including Big 12, favor one portal window for better team management.
SALT LAKE CITY — Twice in a calendar year, chaos was introduced to college football — and it had nothing to do with what happened on the field.
But on Tuesday, the NCAA made a significant change to bring a little more consistency to an already chaotic environment by installing a single transfer portal window for athletes to take part in each year.
The NCAA had previously designated two transfer portal window periods — one in December when many teams around the country were still preparing for postseason games, and another in April after most spring camps concluded.
The December period — a 30-day window — was the most active as players from around the country entered their name into the portal with hopes of finding a better destination. The shortened April portal (15 days) was less busy but still had occasional starting-caliber players on the move — most notable being Nico Iamaleava from Tennessee to UCLA.
For coaches — and the fans who supported the program — the two windows created an additional burden of having to recruit their own team twice, while having little consistency in who would be on the roster. As such, coaches pushed to consolidate the two periods into one.
On Tuesday, the NCAA Division I Administrative Committee approved the change, setting in place a single transfer portal window from Jan. 2-16 each year. Players still competing for an NCAA championship will have an additional five-day period after their final game.
Instead of 45 collective days to transfer, spread out between two windows, football players now have just 15 days. It should be noted, though, that after a player enters the portal, he can commit to another school at any point in the year ahead of the fall academic calendar and still compete the next season.
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham called the change "a positive" for all parties involved.
"I don't think any coach in the country was in favor of two portal windows," Whittingham said. "It's just too much instability for your roster, and so I think that's a big step in the right direction. There is no perfect time to put it at the mid year. If you go too early, then you've got guys complaining, if you go too late, guys complaining.
"I think it's probably in about as good a spot as it can be. And overall, it's a net positive for everybody."
Utah, for example, wasn't as affected by the December portal as in year past because the team missed the postseason for the first time since 2013; however, several starters entered the portal and moved on to different schools.
During that time, Utah embraced the portal and rebuilt a new offense — amid a hiring of offensive coordinator Jason Beck — with players like quarterback Devon Dampier and running backs Wayshawn Parker and NaQuari Rogers, among many others.
But other teams around the country were left juggling a roster amid preparations for bowl or playoff games, including some players declaring their intent to enter the portal but still playing for their team in the postseason.
As such, the transfer portal change was a big topic of conversation in the offseason, with most coaches pushing for a change. In May, during Big 12 spring meetings, Kansas head coach Lance Leipold told media the coaches in the Big 12 "unanimously support one portal window."
"We know it's a tough thing with calendars right now and where it goes," he said. "It's a chance to get your team settled, you're signing most your guys in December, you're going to know what your roster will be like to start the second semester, and you have the opportunity to work and develop and build those relationships, evaluate your team and get it ready for the next season."
Whittingham echoed those comments on Tuesday, adding it will "cut down on the tampering and renegotiations and that type of thing" with the previous two portal windows.
"You know what you have, what your roster is at mid-year," Whittingham said. "You don't have to wait till after spring ball to know who you've got on your team, where your deficiencies are, and what you have to do. So I think it's — I don't see any negatives to it at all. I think it's positive all the way around."
