Kirby Smart Makes Surprising Revelation About College Football Transfer Portal

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart recently made a rather interesting revelation about the sport of college football.

Jan 1, 2026; New Orleans, LA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart walks on the field prior to the 2026 Sugar Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff prior to the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart recently made a rather interesting revelation about the sport of college football.

College football has undergone numerous massive changes over the past few years, that have completely changed the way programs recruit, coach, and approach the offseason. One of the more recent changes to take place recently, was the closure of the spring transfer portal window.

Originally, players had the opportunity to enter the portal following a team's spring practice period. However, following requests from head coaches, the window was close and limited to one period following the season in January.

While some critics have proclaimed that the closure of the window is limiting opportunities for both players and teams, Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart recently made a revelation regarding the spring window that suggests it was extremely unimpactful.

During an interview with college football analyst, Josh Pate, Smart revealed that according to data acquired by the University of Georgia, spring transfer portal windows were not very effective at finding new players.

Kirby Smart Makes Interesting Revelation About Spring Transfer Portal Window

Georgia coach Kirby Smart leaves the field after a NCAA college football game against Marshall in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, August. 30, 2025. Georgia won 45-7. | Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"To be honest, we did a big study on a lot of the portal exchanges in the second portal and there was very little effective movement." I call it swapping spit," said Smart. "Meaning you just took somebody else's two or three and they took your two or three. You traded, and all you got was a new person."

Smart did acknowledge that there are some instances where players who transferred in the spring window can make an impact on their new team. However, the head coach commented that those instances are few and far between.

"Now there's guys that maybe made an impact. People can look and go out and say 'Well he's wrong, there are two or three people that made these huge impacts.' But look at the totality of who moved," said Smart. "I'm going to tell you now, in our study, over 80% of the people had no impact. So all they were doing is moving to move."

Smart and numerous other college football coaches have also noted that the closure of the spring window has mitigated tons of stress and has allowed for coaches to become more advanced in their team building strategies.

While the spring portal window may be seen as a lost opportunity for some, the overarching sentiment regarding the closure appears to indicate that the closure is a positive step in the right direction for the sport.