Transfer Portal

I see so many posts here and other places about the transfer portal. While I'm not saying we shouldn't get guys out of the portal, I do think it's ridiculous to say that the W/L record this year was due to the lack of players from the transfer portal

everyone notices the successes of the portal, but just look across the state...they didn't qualify for a bowl game with a transfer portal QB that was supposed to be the "savior" for them

there are a lot of misses in the portal game and you also bring a lot of negativity with transfers. usually there's a bad reason for them wanting or needing to leave

I'm sure the responses will be that we will only get the good guys who fit our system, but isn't that the point? those guys didn't fit the system to start with, so why would they fit now?

I agree that there are potentially some guys who "fit" and I'd love to see them come in and contribute right away, but when the goal is to build and sustain a program, you can't do it through the portal and the risk/reward on them may not be worth it in the end.

I'd like to see 1 - 3 guys who are graduate transfers...guys who have proven themselves (possibly at smaller conferences/schools)

mpercy®

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For the portal to "work"

Nov 29, 2023, 4:00 PM

Several things must align.

First, a willingness to use it.

Then, you must have available scholarships in hand. This might come from transfers out, graduation, NFL declarations, injury/retirement, or you run off players or pull scholarships.

With the available players in the portal, you need to identify those whom you want to make offers to. Clearly, you also expect them to be able to fill a need on the team to make it worth using a scholarship. If you have holes to fill, you obviously want to try to find the best players in the portal to fill them, but you also want to be sure (or at least believe) that they will fit in the scheme and the program.

Bear in mind that a vast majority of the players in the portal are transferring because they are not able to compete for a starting role on their current team. Certainly some leave programs for other reasons, but a desire for more playing time (exposure) is the driving force for most guys in the portal. The takeaway there is that they are, by and large, second-string players where they are. Finding the "gems" ain't easy.

Once you make an offer to a player, you have to hope they accept it. NIL cash may come into play, and players may feel like some other program that ALSO has needs will be a better fit for them, a better opportunity, or simply pays better, depending on what motivates a player.

It cracks me up that some people think the portal is like a Chinese restaurant, "I'll take that OL, and gimme two WRs...hey, you got any linebackers in there, yeah, I'll take one of those, too."

None of this is to say that Dabo should refuse to use the portal, nor that the portal is always bad, and there are clearly examples of teams using the portal to upgrade. But the portal ain't a panacea of good times either, and it's not really any easier to navigate the portal than it is to find and sign the high-caliber recruits out of high-school.