Having two transfer portal windows has only increased the pressure that college football coaches and programs are under during the postseason and again in the offseason, and some around the sport are starting to argue a change is needed.
That includes Penn State head coach James Franklin, who believes the best answer to the crowded calendar is to have just one transfer window every year.
“I think the conversations that I’ve heard in the Big Ten, the conversations that I’ve been a part of with the AFCA – the American Football Coaches Association – is I think everybody thinks the best model is to have one transfer portal and have it after the spring,” Franklin told On3 Sports.
“That would allow everybody to get through their season. It’ll allow you to have one academic calendar. And then there’s been some talk about maybe moving spring football more into the summer, like [the] OTA model.
He added: “So now your roster is completely set and you can get some practices in leading up to training camp and start getting prepared. Because there are going to be a lot of programs that are going to be practicing a ton of guys during spring ball who are not even going to be a part of their roster come the fall.”
Franklin’s concern around the first transfer window stems from the experience he and Penn State had as they embarked on their College Football Playoff run.
Backup quarterback Beau Pribula entered the portal in December just as the Nittany Lions were preparing for a historic postseason push.
Combined with the prospect of starting quarterback Drew Allar potentially leaving school for the pros, it created a fragile situation that other coaches observed from afar with some concern.
Ultimately, Allar did not leave school, electing to return to Penn State in 2025, but a similar situation can arise again at any school.
On the other hand, players may argue that having just one opportunity to transfer in the spring may not give them enough time to properly compete for starting positions with their new teams before fall camp.
“Coaches shouldn’t be thinking about it just from their program’s perspective. I think that’s what got us into this mess in the first place, when coaches were denying players being able to transfer from one school to another,” Franklin said.
“But we went from one extreme to the other, and more times than not, you’d love for the pendulum to even back out. And right now that has not happened, and I don’t see it happening. I don’t think either extreme is in anybody’s best interest.”
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