College football’s spring transfer portal cycle is finally running out of steam. The portal is closed for everyone, including grad transfers, and almost every notable transfer is already off the board.
As of Wednesday evening, there are only three four-star transfers available as teams scramble to fill needs. All of the top-100 ranked players in Cooper Petagna’s Big Board at 247Sports are spoken for.
But as the calendar turns to May, it’s a good time to look back at the spring cycle that was and empty the notebook a bit on some of the biggest storylines on a spring window that saw the total number of FBS players in the portal grow to a record-setting 4,900-plus.
Texas Tech, with billionaire’s backing, cements No. 1 portal class
Sometimes having the right billionaire behind you makes all the difference in college football. The Red Raiders had that billionaire, Fort Worth energy magnate Cody Campbell, and a plan. Campbell, the founder of The Matador Club (TTU’s NIL collective), and Texas Tech’s staff knew there was an opportunity ahead of the House Settlement, which will place a fair market value governor on NIL deals completed after the settlement is enacted, which could be as soon as May 7.
But from December through April? Texas Tech could spend all its collective cash ($10 to $15 million of it) before the House Settlement goes into effect and gave each school a different pile of cash (around $20 million across all sports) to operate with.
“It’s kind of the last opportunity we’ll have to make moves,” Campbell told 247Sports back in January. “We felt like we could compete.”
Compete they did. Texas Tech raced out to the No. 1 portal class in the winter, landing 11 four-star prospects; keep in mind there are only 194 of them for the entire 2024-25 portal cycle.
But Texas Tech wasn’t done.
Outside of Nico Iamaleava, there was only one true no-doubt, impact all-conference level player in the portal this cycle: Stanford edge David Bailey. Texas Tech went head-to-head with UCLA, the school close to home his mom preferred, and Texas, the national contender that made a very competitive NIL offer. You know what won out? Texas Tech and its money. There were other factors of course, but multiple sources told 247Sports the Red Raiders made an aggressive seven-figure offer that placed Bailey among the highest-paid players in the sport, regardless of position.
Then there’s Micah Hudson. The five-star recruit in the 2024 class left the program after a single season, then reentered the transfer portal after a brief stint at Texas A&M. The Red Raiders mended their relationship with him and brought him home, at a steep discount no less.
Throw in a True Freshman All-American center (Cash Cleveland) and a FCS All-American wide receiver (Roy Alexander), and the Red Raiders filled every possible hole on their roster with the portal.
Now comes the hard part that money can’t buy. Texas Tech needs to win the Big 12 or this all-in push will be a failure.
Bernard Gooden is just what LSU needed in big Year 4
LSU entered the spring with one glaring need: Defensive tackle.
The Tigers invested a large portion of their NIL capital during the winter window, landing impact players at wide receiver, along the offensive line, edge and in the secondary. But LSU did not address DT, a position that played a large role in the team’s pedestrian rush g defense the year prior (73rd nationally in yards allowed per push). Worse still, three of the team’s main five contributors at that spot moved on.
With championship aspirations and a win-now roster, the Tigers had to find an upgrade at DT. It did so in Gooden, the only signee (and really target) for LSU during the spring window among the players on the open market.
Gooden, who started his career at Wake Forest and played last season at South Florida, doesn’t fit the athletic profile of what you usually see in an SEC defensive tackle. He’s just 6-foot-1, 280 pounds. But Gooden is an excellent run defender – he posted an 87.2 PFF run defense grade last season – and added 35 pressures, showing to be an interior disruptor even among giants; he had two pressures against Alabama in Week 2.
“He’s a twitchy, undersized 3-tech that can disrupt,” an SEC personnel source said. “It’s unique how he plays for his size. He’s 280 but you don’t see him get swallowed up. Yet he can still get up field and disrupt, which is unique. He was the only real defensive tackle this cycle with juice.”
LSU went into the 2024 spring window with a need at DT and struck out. The Tigers made sure that didn’t happen in 2025. It could make all the difference on the field for what’s shaping up to be a make-or-break Year 4 for Brian Kelly.
Nico Iamaleava made a dangerous gamble
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