The NCAA transfer portal allows players to get up and leave without any repercussions. In recent years, it seems more and more players are leaving schools to play elsewhere each season.
The rule used to stand that if a player, in any sport, wanted to transfer, they’d have to sit out for one year. Since 2021, football, basketball and hockey players can now transfer to any school without any stipulations.
The NCAA culture of college athletics has changed from being about athletics to a marketplace of free agent athletes with something to prove. Thousands of players enter the portal every year, and the number of players is only increasing. This forces teams, universities and players to fundamentally conform to an ever-changing roster season after season.
As of January 2026, roughly 4,700+ Division I scholarship players entered into the portal. The new portal window opened from Jan. 2 to Jan. 16, closing the former window. Football teams like Iowa State and Oklahoma State lost over 40 players alone, forcing coaches to completely rebuild their teams.
This completely changes team dynamics both on and off the field. Coaches now spend more time developing a roster, managing retention amongst current players and figuring out NIL expectations than they do growing team chemistry.
The transfer portal has also presented another issue in college athletics: the players are aging out. The NCAA does not have an official age limit for athletes who are competing. However, they have a limited time from graduation to start playing college sports and have four to five years of eligibility, depending on whether they take a redshirt year.
Let’s look at the Bobcats' very own Parker Navarro as an example. Navarro is 24 years old and joined the Bobcats in 2022 for his junior year. Before joining the Bobcats, Navarro was with the University of Central Florida, where he competed in two seasons, one of which was a redshirt year. Combining the two schools, Navarro has completed six years of eligibility. Yet, Navarro is seeking yet another year of eligibility, potentially playing seven years of college football.
Narvarro has been allowed to play the past six years because he had a redshirt designation one year, preserving four years of eligibility. He also had a COVID-19 eligibility waiver from 2020, when he started at UCF.
Look at Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck. He started his college football career with the University of Georgia Bulldogs in 2021. While serving as the backup quarterback, Beck was a part of two national championship-winning teams. Beck is now going to the NFL draft and also played in college for five years.
It’s more common now for students to take between four and six years to complete a bachelor's degree. However, players like these are not staying in college for their education, but rather to pad their stats to look better for the NFL. Not to mention, some college players are making more in NIL deals than they would on a rookie NFL contract.
Transferring in pursuit of better NIL deals has created a money grab for players and teams looking to expand their pockets. By not capping the amount on NIL, it has created a way for both high school recruits and college transfers to pursue a team based solely on monetary value.
This money grab has only been able to benefit teams that have consistent donors flooding their athletic departments. Players not having buyouts has allowed players to use the portal as an ever-revolving door.
Just last year, Matthew Sluka transferred from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to James Madison due to NIL disputes. College football players should not be transferring teams due to the money they make. They are college students first, not athletes, and the ability to transfer constantly restricts the student aspect of their lives.
Players aren’t the only ones transferring because of money now. Lane Kiffin, a former Ole Miss Rebels football head coach, transferred to Louisiana State University just before the start of the college football playoffs.
However, the timing of the unfortunate move wasn’t completely on Kiffin. Ole Miss asked Kiffin to leave as they didn’t want him working for a rival while also actively working for them. LSU wanted Kiffin to start working immediately to help start the recruiting process before the start of the transfer window.
A system that once allowed players to have the freedom to transfer from a higher or lower division has now created an unregulated, uncapped mess that teams have to navigate.
The NCAA needs to do better by enforcing athletes to have a limited number of transfers, restricting transfers solely based on NIL and providing more educational review to keep the student-athlete part in student athletes. Another popular change to the transfer portal would be the implementation of contracts that would force players to stay or buy out their contract to leave.
This portal of constant player movement disrupts a team’s cohesion and ruins the identity and culture of college football. Without reforms that foster rebalanced competitiveness, we will continue to see players switch up on teams, while smaller, less wealthy programs suffer.
Chase Borland is a junior studying journalism and Cassie Dye is a senior studying communications at Ohio University. The views and opinions of these columnists do not necessarily reflect those of The Post. If you have any thoughts, questions or concerns, then you can contact them at cb297222@ohio.edu and cb086021@ohio.edu.
