Money Isn't Only Reason Players Pursue Transfer Portal Opportunities

Relationships still matter when it comes to college athletes who seek new opportunities elsewhere

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Malachi Singleton against the Tennessee Volunteers at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Michael Morrison-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Strip away your feelings about NIL and transfer portal activity. Previous bonds made between athletes and coaches still matter in the current landscape of college football.

While the sport continues to evolve, players still covet trust and loyalty built with coaches while being recruited in high school. Those relationships can become long-standing commitments which has never been more apparent than most athletes' transfer destinations these days.

Sure, some opportunities have financial motives, just look at the headlines on ESPN, but guys still transfer for familiarity. Arkansas signed Jac'Qawn McRoy, Kani Walker, Raylen Sharpe, Jaden Platt and Courtney Crutchfield who all had previous relationships in some capacity with Razorbacks staff members.

Arkansas alum and former assistant Dowell Loggains was considered Coach Sam Pittman's top recruiter from 2021-22 before taking over as offensive coordinator at South Carolina in 2023. HIs move alongside former Razorbacks wideouts coach Justin Stepp persuaded Trey Knox to enter the portal and become a Gamecock.

The Arkansas to South Carolina pipeline continued last offseason as running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders moved closer to home to become a catalyst for a nine-win team. Fast forward to this offseason, Loggains took his first head coaching job at perineal Group of Five conference powerhouse Appalachian State, leading the Mountaineers' to a Top 3 portal class among Sun Belt Conference programs.

NO FEAR pic.twitter.com/gBoJKTMqKy

— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) October 6, 2024

Barry Odom's time at UNLV was quite successful because several of Arkansas' back-ups went out west for playing time based on built-in relationships while he was Razorbacks' defensive coordinator. Similar to Odom, Loggains' likeability factor is on full notice as Arkansas saw three players head to Boone, North Carolina to play for him in 2025.

Four other players departed for Purdue, where Odom took over Dec. 8 after two seasons with the Runnin' Rebels. Back-up quarterback Malachi Singleton, punter Sam Dubwig, linebackers Alex Sanford and Carson Dean are hopeful for bigger roles in a Boilermakers program that won just one game under former coach Ryan Walters this season.

Brad Spence, a Houston native, spent his first two seasons at Arkansas where he performed well despite being ranked outside the Top 100 among class of 2023 linebackers. He allowed his high school offer list of 32 teams do the talking which included Texas, LSU, SMU, Utah, Arizona State, Cal, Kansas, Kansas State and Mississippi State.

While the Longhorns missed out on Spence the first time around, he pursued an opportunity when the portal opened and transferred home Dec. 14. His loss left a hole in Arkansas' linebacker rotation after he recorded 54 tackles, six tackles for loss and five sacks in 2024.

College football's landscape has shifted considerably since 2020, giving more freedom to the athlete than ever before. While some propositions are in play to normalize portal windows and such, the sport is continuing to trend toward a professional model, an NFL-lite so to speak.

At the very core of football, trust continues to be built despite what the top 1% will say. Jaw dropping $4 million deals aside, college athletics can remain pure even with the notion money trumps all.

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