College football coaches in 'full panic' over transfers: Analyst
Free agency of a kind has come to college football in the new transfer portal and NIL environment, and coaches are panicking to keep their rosters intact.
The college football spring transfer portal window has opened up, allowing another tidal wave of players to make a decision about jumping ship to another school in time for the 2024 season. But this transfer period feels different for coaches, who, according to one analyst, are in panic mode.
In his conversations with coaches, college football analyst Joel Klatt says that schools are scared of what has effectively become free agency in the sport, and are frantically looking for ways to keep their rosters intact in an age of free movement and NIL.
"I've talked with everybody and at no point during the course of the last couple of years have I sensed the level of panic that I'm starting to hear from coaches about this spring transfer portal period," he said. "I think it's indicative of where we're at."
Part of that panic is to do with recent court cases against the NCAA, and with that body no longer playing a big role in the process, schools feel free to get whatever players they want to target, while also feeling pressure from the other end of that fact, that other schools can poach their rosters.
Related: What is NIL in college football? What you need to know
"The NCAA has given notice to the schools and to the programs that they are just not going to enforce even current on the books rules," Klatt said.
"They're just not going to do it based, in large part, due to the fact that the rules that they tried to enforce against Tennessee, [that school] turned around and said, 'Hey, what are you doing trying to penalize us? Everybody is doing it."
He added: "Everybody was right, by the way, in that. Tennessee was correct. Everyone was doing it. YOu can't just penalize us and target us. The NCAA was right because, yes, technically, all of these things fall under existing rules and are, technically, against those existing rules...
"... So what did the NCAA do? They're like, 'Well, we don't want any more litigation so have at it.' They threw their hands up like they're done with everything. They've basically said we're not going to do anything. At this point, the spring transfer window is going to be a free for all."
Players are taking full advantage of the freedom the new rules allow them, checking in with schools to see what offers are on the table, and making business decisions about their futures. And while that's liberating for the players, it creates a tenuous situation for program builders.
"The coaches are in a full panic, a full panic about the spring transfer window," Klatt said. "It's not just one. There's a lot of shcools worried about a lot of players on their teams. They feel like trying to retain their own roster becomes like another bout of free agency."
Effectively every player in college football "is a free agent over the next 15 days," he added. "That's terrifying for coaches. It's totally terrifying for coaches and you can see why. You can absolutely see why."
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