Michigan State's Alan Haller Shares His Thoughts on the Transfer Portal

Few notable football programs nationwide have been as negatively impacted by the transfer portal this offseason as Michigan State and Coach Jonathan Smith. Although Smith and his coaching staff have gradually begun recovering from the mass exodus of Michigan State players earlier this offseason, the movement of those players spoke to the downsides of the transfer portal.

Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller supports players in doing what is best for them and their families. However, Haller also believes there should be more parameters for the transfer portal. Currently, the transfer portal can cause problems that didn’t exist before and were unseen initially.

“I think the transfer portal is a great thing for student-athletes,” Haller said, per Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal. “It provides those students that are in a situation that is not for them to be able to move to another situation. And I'm a huge advocate of families being able to position their son or daughter into the best environment for them.

" ... I do think there needs to be some adjustment in terms of transfer portal windows and dates and length because I think (the movement) is starting to erode the ability for communities to follow their teams."

Haller said there is a "fear" fans could lose their engagement.

“At the end of the day, we have to do what's best for our student-athletes, but also we have to do what's best for the environment that we're trying to create," he said. "And there could be some harm done when there are no barriers around that movement.”

As Haller and Michigan State football look to rebuild their football program to what it once was, Haller leans on the lessons he learned from the difficulties of his playing days and the lessons he learned by not jumping ship as quickly as the transfer portal allows players to these days.

“I had one of the most demanding coaches probably in the history of the Big Ten in terms of football,” Haller said. “And there's probably many, many times I wanted to leave coach (George) Perles. But I'm sitting here in front of you today partly because I went through that. Now, I'm not sitting on my porch with my newspaper saying, ‘Get off my yard.’ But there is some value in going through some challenges.”

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