The Transfer Portal Isn’t the Problem in College Football

College football isn’t broken.

It’s just finally operating in the real world, a place the sport’s power brokers (and plenty of fans) have never been comfortable visiting.

People keep insisting the system is falling apart. It isn’t.

Is it messy? Sure. Could it use a tune‑up? Absolutely.

But if this season wasn’t entertaining, then nothing is. Ole Miss made a playoff run after losing its coach to a rival. Indiana became the feel‑good story of the millennium.

That’s not a broken sport. That’s a thriving one.

And the transfer portal? Also not broken.

For decades, everyone except players could jump schools whenever they wanted. Coaches did it constantly. Charles Huff went Marshall to Southern Miss to Memphis in two years and nobody clutched a single pearl. Southern Miss fans might grumble, but baseball season is just around the corner.

Yet when players move around, suddenly it’s a crisis. Three schools in three years? “The sport is doomed.” No, it’s not. The sport is finally fair.

Players now have the same freedom coaches have always enjoyed. Coaches preach loyalty to recruits, then bolt the moment a better job opens. Players were expected to smile and adjust. That was the actual problem, and the system finally corrected it.

“But Taylor, isn’t it wrong for players to sign a contract and then leave?”

It’s frustrating for fans, yes. But it’s only “wrong” if it’s wrong for coaches. And it isn’t because of one simple mechanism: buyouts.

On3’s Chris Low made the case today that schools should treat player contracts the same way they treat coaching contracts. He pointed to Clemson’s Dabo Swinney accusing Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding of tampering with linebacker Luke Ferrelli. Swinney claimed Golding asked him the most normal question in college sports:

“I know you’re signed. What’s the buyout?”

Coaches hear that question constantly. Florida and LSU asked it about Lane Kiffin. Auburn asked it about Alex Goresh. Florida asked it about John Sumrall. Arkansas asked it about Ryan Silverfield.

Buyouts are the cost of doing business. Now players have them, too.

What needs fixing isn’t the concept. Rather it’s the paperwork.

Low argues players should sign memorandums of understanding, just like coaches do, instead of vague, lawyer‑scented language like Duke’s contract with quarterback Darian Mensah:

“…any breach by Student-Athlete hereunder shall cause Duke irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law.”

Coaches don’t deal with that nonsense. Their contracts list a dollar amount. Pay it, and you’re free.

Would clearer terms stop players like Ferrelli from leaving? No. And that’s fine. It would simply make the process honest.

As Low put it:

“Schools tamper with coaches all the time, and they do it because the cost of that tampering is written in black and white. They’re either willing to pay it or they aren’t. They could make the same decisions when it comes to players. Then they could stop pretending that rules that were never enforced in the first place actually matter.”

Put the terms in black and white. Treat everyone the same. And stop acting like fairness is a threat.

College football doesn’t need to be fixed. It just needs to be finished.

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