Not every head coach in Texas agrees with the recent Division I FBS and FCS Oversight Committees recommendation that the two-window transfer portal model be modified to one 30-day window that would open the Monday after FBS conference championship games and would close in early January. 

This season, that would be Dec. 9-Jan. 7. The Division I Council would need to adopt the proposal in a meeting set for October for it to become effective. Currently, students get 45 days to enter the transfer portal with 30 days open after the FBS conference championship games (fall window) and 15 more starting April 15 (spring window). 

“I would do away with the spring window and shorten the fall window,” one coach said, echoing the recommendation of the Oversight Committee. “Making the players declare their intentions prior to going through spring ball is best for all of us so we can make fall plans. Something has to help with roster management if we are really going to 105 (scholarship players).” 

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football spoke to over half of the 13 head coaches in Texas and most agreed. They all want to eliminate one of the portal windows and most would prefer the fall window to remain. The main reason is resource allocation. Why devote time and resources into developing a player from January through spring ball in April only for them to play for a different team? 

“Spring is meant to develop your roster for next year, but you don’t know who will be there and who is coming,” another coach said. “Summer used to be just for incoming freshman. Now, you might add a half dozen potential starters who don’t arrive until June.”  

The fall window isn't perfect, however. Proponents for high school recruiting believe an earlier transfer portal negatively impacts prep prospects because coaches fill spots up with experienced upperclassmen rather than young projects. The expanded playoffs means that 12 squads are playing meaningful games at least until December 20. The portal allows a five-day grace period for those players, but that doesn’t help the teams who lose them.  

“What if you get gutted in December? How do we fix (the roster)?” one coach pointed out. “This probably depends on where you’re coaching.” 

The NCAA says that data from the 2023-24 academic year showed that many football student-athletes made the decision to transfer after the end of the fall football season. And since spring football is typically seen as preparatory for the subsequent season, focusing on the fall transfer portal is expected to “promote roster stability.”

“I know a lot of coaches like the post-spring window to run people off, but that’s not great for anyone,” a third coach said. “Something crazy like 90 percent of the guys that enter the portal do so within the first two days of it opening, so shortening it to 30 days could help eliminate the late panic poaching by group of four schools as their targets dry up.” 

Coaches want to coach, so it stands to reason that most want a portal before spring ball to avoid wasting time on players who are soon to leave. But there is also an aspect of school and the belief that the grass isn’t always greener provides a contrarian point of view. 

“Are we sure the best system is transferring in the middle of the school year?” one coach asked. “Why not see if your situation changes between the end of the season and spring ball? Maybe whatever you didn’t like during the season – like playing time – changes after the season and spring ball. If you still aren’t happy, go find a new place in the summer. There also aren’t any coaching changes after the spring so there won’t be as many kids jumping in the portal late because their head coach left after the portal closes.” 

Even the coaches who push back on eliminating the spring window know that if the NCAA adopts the rules and drops to one, it’ll be the winter window that survives. Keeping the spring window instead would be the death of spring ball, and that feels an unlikely choice for the Oversight Committee. 

“If we only did the spring (window), then we’d need to do away with spring ball and just have some OTAs,” a coach said. “There is no point in going through spring practice with guys who won’t be there. Seeing as they aren’t likely (to negatively impact spring ball), mid-year transfers at least allows it to follow the calendar a little.”