In the ever-changing landscape of college football, there’s one force that has dramatically altered how programs build their rosters in recent years: the transfer portal. This online database, which allows players to explore opportunities at other schools, has become a major pipeline for talent acquisition. More than 11,000 players entered the portal in 2023-24 alone. So how exactly does this powerful tool work, and why has it become so impactful?
The Basics of the Transfer Portal
Established in October 2018, the transfer portal serves as a compliance tool to efficiently manage player movement between schools. When athletes decide they want to transfer, they notify their current institution, which has 48 hours to enter their name into the database. Once a player is in the portal, any school can contact them to begin the recruiting process.
In the portal’s early days, players still faced some restrictions. Transfers were limited to 25 per school each year, and underclassmen had to sit out a season before gaining eligibility. But the NCAA has loosened those rules over time, eliminating the annual cap and allowing underclassmen a one-time transfer waiver to play immediately. Then in 2024, after legal challenges, the organization approved unlimited transfers for academically eligible players.
When Can Players Enter the Portal?
For the 2024-25 school year, there are two transfer windows in which players can enter their names:
- Winter window: Dec. 9-28
- Spring window: Apr. 16-25
Graduate transfers could enter beginning Oct. 1, 2024. If a school undergoes a head coaching change, their players are granted an immediate 30-day portal window. Entering the portal doesn’t require a player to transfer, but their current school can revoke their scholarship after they do so.
Impact on the Sport
The portal has reshaped roster management. Among FBS scholarship players, more than 25% transferred after the 2023 season. Schools can now sign as many transfers as they need, rather than being capped at 25 total signees. This allows coaches more flexibility to turn over their rosters, while also enabling more player movement than ever before.
According to sources close to several top programs, up to $10-20 million is being spent to fund some of the nation’s top rosters through name, image and likeness (NIL) deals for transfers. The portal, combined with NIL opportunities, has created a new brand of free agency in the sport.
Biggest Names on the Move
The last two Heisman Trophy winners, Caleb Williams (USC) and Jayden Daniels (LSU), both transferred in from other schools. They went 1-2 in the 2024 NFL draft. Many of this year’s Heisman contenders took the same path:
- Travis Hunter – Jackson State to Colorado
- Dillon Gabriel – UCF to Oklahoma to Oregon
- Cam Ward – Incarnate Word to Washington State to Miami
At Colorado, new coach Deion Sanders brought in a whopping 47 scholarship transfers, including his son Shedeur Sanders and Hunter, to fuel a massive roster rebuild. Expect to see more major hauls like this as coaches frequently dip into the portal.
New Rules and Future Outlook
An unprecedented antitrust settlement will allow schools to directly pay players starting in 2025, using up to 22% of annual revenue. It’s not yet clear exactly how this will affect the portal, but expect collectives that fund NIL deals to have even more cash to throw around and woo top transfers.
What is clear is that the transfer portal, now approaching its seventh year, will remain a major force in shaping the college football landscape. Whether building a playoff contender or engineering a rapid rebuild, the portal has become an essential tool for programs to stay competitive in this brave new era of player movement and empowerment.
