The deadline for undergraduate players to enter the transfer portal in the spring window has passed. There are still players wrapping up the process of finding a new home, but the cycle has reached its conclusion for the most part. Coming out of the weekend, every one of the top 250 prospects in the 2024-25 Transfer Portal Player Rankings at 247Sports has either committed to or enrolled at their new school. So now it’s time to make some declarative statements on the most notable and impactful changes coming from all the player movement.
As has been detailed extensively, the spring portal window produced large numbers of players — but in terms of top portal talent, most of those moves came out of the winter window. Of the top 200 players in the portal across both windows, just 24 of them made their moves in the spring; the rest committed in the winter and most were able to take part in spring practice with their new squad. But having a little bit of a lighter load in terms of top talent does not mean schools checked out of the process. We’ve got notable additions or losses across the board with national title favorites, new coaching hires, and even the most stable programs in the country all engaged in the last weeks of roster construction.
What we have done here is identify some of the most notable or important moves from the spring window, taking into account the players and teams involved and the wider-ranging impact when applicable. That’s certainly the case with our first pick, which is really two moves in one, when the top-rated player in the portal left a College Football Playoff team in the midst of a sign-of-the-times NIL negotiation.
The Tennessee-UCLA Quarterback Swap
Throughout spring, there was little to suggest that quarterback Nico Iamaleava would not be part of Tennessee’s 2025 campaign. While his first season as a starter did not produce overwhelming individual statistics or accolades, the team experienced great success with 10 wins and a first-ever College Football Playoff appearance.
In the final days of spring practice, however, discussions about a re-worked NIL deal broke down, and Iamaleava failed to attend team events with no communication to explain the absence. Coach Josh Heupel “moved on” with an explanation that “no one is bigger” than the Tennessee program, and his hard stance on the issue served as a high-profile rebuttal of what has been a rising tide of player leverage when it comes to negotiations with NIL collectives and coaching staffs.
There might a long-term payoff for Heupel in terms of culture-setting in a locker room that includes other well-compensated Vols; however, the biggest move of the spring window was an SEC power saying goodbye to a consensus five-star coming out of high school who immediately ranked as the No. 1 player in the transfer portal.
The loss of talent in Knoxville was UCLA’s gain. Coach Deshaun Foster and the Bruins were able to lean on some local advantages and previous relationships to get what is undeniably an upgrade at the position. UCLA’s chances of making a bowl game in Year 2 with Foster at the helm are significantly better with Iamaleava on the roster. If the production comes anywhere close to the projection of what he can be with his talent and tools, then the Bruins have the better quarterback in most of the coin-flip games on their schedule.
But Tennessee is not left with a hole in the depth chart or a sunken outlook for 2025 in the wake of Nico’s absence. That’s because Iamaleava’s arrival at UCLA sparked an exit for Joey Aguilar, a California native who had just transferred after two years as a starter for Appalachian State. After amassing 56 touchdowns and more than 6,700 yards passing in Boone, he’s headed back to a familiar region for a coach who has fielded some of the a top-four SEC offense in each of the last four seasons. Tennessee’s floor might be unchanged thanks the way this program has recruited, developed and built up its roster, but the change at quarterback is going to change the odds of the Vols making it back to the College Football Playoff.
Georgia restocks pass rush after NFL Draft exits
Losing double-digit players to the NFL Draft is nothing new for Kirby Smart and Georgia, but what we saw from the Bulldogs in the spring window was a decision to utilize the transfer portal for some instant-impact help on the defensive side. The defensive front has been loaded with talent for years, but at times the depth has been tested because of injuries. That was again the case during spring practice, with some projected contributors limited or held out while working back to full health.
Among the multiple spring portal additions for the Bulldogs was a player who not only helps depth, but potentially could be a star in the SEC: former Army linebacker Elo Modozie, who had a breakout sophomore season as one of the defensive stars for Jeff Monkey’s AAC-title winning squad. Modozie led the team with 6.5 sacks and added 34 tackles and 8.0 tackles for loss. He has multiple years of eligibility remaining, and while there will be a jump up in competition to playing in the SEC, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound linebacker has the tools to be just as effective in his new league.
No one is expecting Modozie to be exactly like edge rusher Mykel Williams, the 11th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he might slot into Williams’ old spot on the depth chart as one of the primary edge rushers. This is a Georgia defense that lost 29.0 of the team total 37.0 sacks from last season because of the NFL Draft and transfer portal, so the production is up for grabs among several talented players. Georgia doesn’t dip into the transfer portal to play a numbers game, so the fact they targeted Modozie suggests there is a plan in place. He’s got the goods to live up to those expectations.
More star power for Texas Tech‘s stellar class
When a coach is fired, retires or leaves for another job, the portal opens up that entire roster. The firing of Stanford coach Troy Taylor on March 25 created an opportunity for any players looking to make a move before the official spring window opened on April 16. No player on Stanford’s roster drew as much attention from other top programs as outside linebacker David Bailey. The former 247Sports Freshman All-American continued to back up his blue-chip pedigree with production over the last couple of years in Palo Alto.
Bailey is the highest-rated player of a transfer portal class that ranks No. 2 in the country, according to 247Sports, and includes another dynamic edge rusher in Romello Height from Georgia Tech. With those two in the fold, Texas Tech should see a boost to a defense that finished 10th in the Big 12 and 92nd nationally with just 21.0 sacks on the season.
But the impact of Bailey’s commitment extends beyond his obvious talent and what it means for the Red Raiders specifically in 2025. Since the portal was not officially open yet, this was a recruitment where one of the top players available this offseason could get all of the attention from any of the top teams looking to add plug-and-play talent at one of the sport’s most coveted positions. It was a battle that included UCLA, a potential “hometown” kind of pick for the native of Irvine, California, but it also included Texas. After decades of playing little brother to the Longhorns, this was a battle that Texas Tech was able to win. Both schools got Bailey on campus, both schools reportedly had NIL offers deemed to be competitive, and the Red Raiders won.
When Texas Tech’s NIL war chest is helping win battles against other Big 12 teams it’s going to come as less of a surprise, but beating out one of the sport’s biggest spenders for one of the top available players in the portal is a win that energizes the base and only heightens the excitement for a big season ahead in 2025.
While coaches might differ on their messaging, we can usually tell when a team is “all-in” on an upcoming season based on their behavior when it comes to roster construction and management in the offseason. With Drew Allar poised to be a top NFL Draft pick in 2026, running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen back for another year, and the offense actually having some year-over-year continuity with Andy Kotelnicki, the pieces are in place for Penn State to make another run at championships. So when a team like that enters the transfer portal and is willing to do “what it takes” to secure talent at positions of need, it suggests the acknowledgement of an opportunity to do something special.
Former Syracuse wide receiver Trebor Pena entered the transfer portal after spring practice, and his move caught even more attention after Orange coach Fran Brown in an interview pointed to a price tag that he felt was unreasonable for a wide receiver. This, even as Pena was coming off a 2024 season that included 941 yards receiving, the third-most receiving touchdowns (9) in the conference, and second-team All-ACC honors.
Penn State had already added Kyron Hudson from USC and Devonte Ross from Troy in the winter portal window, but when Pena, a New Jersey native, was made available the Nittany Lions were able to meet the moment and make a deal happen with one of the top-rated pass catchers. Penn State could have entered 2025 without Pena on the roster and still had the ceiling of a national champion, but because acquiring and accumulating talent is the name of the game for title contenders, it speaks to the “all-in” approach for a program that came just short in both the Big Ten Championship Game and College Football Playoff Orange Bowl semifinal. This is a program, in 2025, willing to do whatever it takes to take the next step.
Ott adds to Oklahoma’s re-tooled offense
The offensive overhaul in Norman started in chaotic fashion, with in-season changes at quarterback and play-caller in 2024, and then ultimately a revamp of the staff in the offseason. Ben Arbuckle, a 29-year-old rising star in the industry, takes over after two successful years at Washington State (the first of which included mentoring future No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward). He brings with him dynamic dual-threat quarterback John Mateer, who enjoyed a breakout season with Arbuckle at Washington State in 2024 that included 44 total touchdowns (29 passing, 15 rushing) to just seven interceptions in 12 starts.
That ground game got a big boost in the spring window as the Sooners brought former Cal star Jaydn Ott into the fold. Ott has been a dynamic playmaker for some time now, totaling 3,460 all-purpose yards over the last three seasons (third among all FBS returning running backs), and being selected All-Pac-12 First Team in 2023. Ott was part of a massive player exodus in Berkeley in the spring portal window. Because of his talent and position, he was a desirable addition when it comes to plug-and-play impact.
If the Mateer-Ott combo can be one of the best quarterback-running back duos in the entire country, then Oklahoma’s offensive success is likely playing into a much-needed bounce-back season for Brent Venables after a 6-7 finish in 2024. Ott individually won’t reverse course for Venables’ tenure at Oklahoma, but his role in an offensive renaissance can certainly change the outlook for a proud program still looking for its footing in the new-look SEC.
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