Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539550
5 0 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M E D I T O R I A L MATT HERB MATT.HERB@ON3.COM VARSITY VIEWS J ames Franklin has likened in-season college football coaching to being on a submarine. Once the hatch closes, the rest of the world disappears for a few months and the mission is all that matters. Occasionally, though, someone will drop a depth charge that gets every- body's attention, no matter how fo- cused they may be on the task at hand. Such was the case when the NCAA began tinkering with the mechanics of the transfer portal. A change that has been working its way through the bureaucracy of college athletics' governing body would push the winter transfer portal opening back a couple of weeks to early January. Un- der the new rules, the upcoming trans- fer period would begin on Jan. 2 and last 10 days. That would be the only opportunity for nongraduate players to change schools, because the spring pe- riod would be eliminated altogether. The coaches of various national championship contenders, from Frank- lin to Ohio State's Ryan Day to Oregon's Dan Lanning, have been asked about the changes, which are likely to become official soon. All have reluctantly ad- dressed the issue, and none have been particularly excited about the changes. The problem, at least for teams that strive to compete at a national cham- pionship level, is that the portal will still be opening ahead of the season's most consequential games, even if it's delayed. The new dates would have it opening six days ahead of this season's College Football Playoff semifinals. That's an awkward time to have to make quick decisions about building next year's roster. And the discontinu- ation of the spring transfer window only magnifies the importance of the winter period. "I don't think it's a good idea at all," Day said in early September. "And in the conversations we had with the Big Ten coaches, I think the majority of them agree. I just don't quite under- stand how teams that are playing in the playoffs are expected to make the deci- sions and sign their upcoming players while they're still getting ready to play for games. It doesn't make any sense to me." It doesn't make much sense to Franklin, either. Speaking at a post- practice media availability a few days later, he acknowledged that differing academic calendars add to the chal- lenge of creating a solution that works for everyone, but he echoed Day's main point. "I don't think anybody thinks it's a good idea to have it during the season," he said. Opposition to the proposal is, in it- self, a sign of a program's ambitions. Of the 136 teams in the FBS this year, 132 will have started their offseason by Jan. 3 at the latest. Most teams have no re- alistic shot at reaching the CFP semifi- nals. For almost everybody, this will be a postseason window. But for the likes of Ohio State, Penn State and Or- egon, the timing of the transfer portal opening will continue to be a legitimate concern. And it's not just that they'll have to keep an eye on the portal even as they're preparing for their biggest game to that point in the season; they'll also have to keep tabs on their current players, some of whom will undoubtedly be eyeing the exit door. Last year, for example, Penn State lost second-team quarterback Beau Pribula six days before it faced SMU in its first-ever play- off game. The NCAA's new plan all but assures that there will be more of those kinds of untimely exits in the years ahead. Of the Big Ten coaches who have weighed in on the impending changes to the portal, Oregon's Lanning had the best take. "I've always been a big advocate of the season ending Jan. 1," he said. "If the season ends Jan. 1 and then you're able to figure out who your team is in January, that's ideal. I don't think it's ever ideal to have the portal open when the season is still being played." Back in July, Lanning proposed a compressed schedule that would have everyone starting in Week 0. There would be fewer off-weeks and no layoff between the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason. To Lanning's list, I'd throw in a re- turn to an 11-game regular season. It would be a nice way of showing that decisions are being driven by student- athlete welfare rather than a desire for more TV programming. Alas, that ship, much like Franklin's submarine, has sailed. ■ NCAA's Portal Moves Only Muddy The Waters James Franklin and Ohio State's Ryan Day are in agreement that the trans- fer portal shouldn't be open while the season is still ongoing. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL