The rise of the transfer portal: How it works, and why Clemson is ready to use it
Three of the four teams in this year’s College Football Playoff had transfers in their starting lineups.
And then there was Clemson.
Ohio State defeated the Tigers in the Sugar Bowl with the talented backfield of two transfers — quarterback Justin Fields and tailback Trey Sermon. Notre Dame and Alabama had starters who had transferred in from other programs, including the Crimson Tide’s Landon Dickerson, one of the best offensive linemen in the country.
A year ago, LSU defeated Clemson in the national championship game. Transfer quarterback Joe Burrow was a big reason behind the Bayou Tigers’ title run.
It’s not to suggest transfers were the only reason for those teams’ success, but it is a reminder of coach Dabo Swinney’s longstanding approach that Clemson focus its energy on recruiting prospects straight from high school, then developing that talent once it arrives on campus.
As recently as December, Swinney said he hoped Clemson wouldn’t become another football program that addresses roster needs through college-to-college player transfers.
“Unfortunately, there will probably come a day, if things keep going down the path that they are,” he acknowledged.
That day has arrived.
College football teams across the country are turning to the relatively new NCAA transfer portal to help build their rosters. It’s being done, in large part, to address needs or depth issues created when teams’ current players choose to transfer.
Swinney’s Tigers are at least laying the groundwork for a change in philosophy. The program in mid-January moved assistant coach Danny Pearman to an off-field role, in part so he can evaluate the transfer portal and search for players who could be a good fit for the program.
Clemson is one of three colleges in the current team recruiting Top 25 — Texas A&M and Wisconsin are the others — to never utilize the transfer portal to add to the roster, according to 247Sports. To be sure, the Tigers’ somewhat unique approach to recruiting has served the team well, with six-straight ACC titles and College Football Playoff appearances. They’ve signed Top 10 recruiting classes for four straight years — this year’s group ranks fifth nationally.
Still, most programs, including other perennial powers in the sport, are tapping into the transfer portal to try to retool and improve their roster quickly. Clemson appears ready to do that — if the situation is right.
How does the transfer portal work?
The transfer portal was started in 2018 as a way for all student-athletes to quickly and easily let coaches around the country know they want to be at another school. The NCAA intended it to be a “central repository” that made the process more transparent and streamlined for all those involved: players, coaches and colleges’ compliance departments. And it’s mandatory for transfers within Division I schools.
For coaches, the portal is a website with a database of those seeking a new college home. They can search by name, school, sport, division and conference. They can also filter to only search for graduate transfers.
Student-athletes file paperwork with their current school’s compliance department to officially enter the portal. They include information such as their name and sport, and can share their contact information or a Twitter handle.
Athletes can enter the NCAA transfer portal by only going through their compliance department, but there’s another important step that’s recommended: Let the coaching staff know of your plans.
“From my experience, I say you tell your coach first. That’s probably the smart thing for you to do,” former Clemson quarterback Chase Brice told The State. “For him to find out from social media that you’re in the portal, that wouldn’t be a good idea.”
Once an athlete’s initial paperwork is completed, the school has 48 hours to get the information into the NCAA’s database. And then the craziness begins.
“Nobody had to tell me I was in the portal because instantly so many coaches started following me on Twitter. Random numbers started texting me. People were calling me, FaceTiming me. It was just so nonstop,” former Clemson defensive lineman Jordan Williams told The State.
“That whole first day was just really crazy. I was talking to any and everybody.”
Clemson, like all colleges, has lost players to the portal. In addition to Brice, other high-profile players to transfer from the Tigers in recent years include QB Kelly Bryant and running backs Tavien Feaster and Demarkcus Bowman. This academic year, Williams and three other Clemson players have opted to transfer, with starting linebacker Mike Jones Jr. the latest Tiger to make that decision.
Brice has been in the NCAA transfer portal twice, going from Clemson to Duke following the 2019 season and from Duke to Appalachian State after this past year.
The process has been smooth for Brice in each of his experiences, but he warned that’s not always the case. More than 1,500 FBS-level college football players have entered the portal since Aug. 1, according to 247Sports. The perfect landing spot — or any landing spot at all — is not guaranteed.
“A lot of young guys will enter and they’re just going off high school film,” Brice said. “I know there’s a ton of guys in the portal — a ton of guys. And there are not enough spots. So some are going to have to go D2. Some are going to have to go JUCO. It’s a risk that you’re taking.”
The most common reason for a transfer? A player has some level of unhappiness with the current situation, often related to playing time or because of a coaching change.
Once you officially enter the portal, your current school isn’t obligated to continue your financial aid once the current semester ends. At that time, your scholarship can go to someone else.
“Unfortunately, it’s not always a given that you’re going to end up somewhere,” Brice said. “These people aren’t required to pick you up. It’s tough.”
Williams transferred to Virginia Tech. He and Brice both praised Clemson’s staff as going above and beyond to be helpful during the process. But it’s not something coaches and schools are obligated to do.
“I felt like I left Clemson on great terms. I finished. I graduated early. I finished the season out. And they were willing to help me any way they could,” Williams said. “They were talking to coaches for me. Coaches were reaching out to them asking them about me and they were putting in a great word for me.
“I know Clemson’s not this type of program, but a lot of coaches, once you enter that portal, they don’t reach back out to you. They don’t want anything to do with you.”
What’s next for Clemson — and the portal?
The portal is less than 3 years old, and predicting how it will be used in the coming years is a bit of a guessing game. So why the added notoriety and interest now? Two possibilities:
▪ The creation of the December signing period for football in 2017 has shifted the conclusion of most high school recruiting away from February’s traditional National Signing Day. Colleges, in turn, started using January to get ahead on future recruiting classes. And now it’s becoming more of a December-January strategy to use available scholarships on those in the transfer portal to try and fill more immediate roster needs.
▪ The NCAA this year is expected to approve a one-time blanket waiver that would allow players in every sport the opportunity to transfer once to any school without the usual penalty of sitting out a season. Right now only graduates are allowed one “free” transfer.
College football teams are allowed 25 new scholarships in a given recruiting cycle.
“It’s hard to tell who’s going to save scholarships for the portal and who’s going to still build their class through recruiting, who’s going to do a blend of the two approaches,” 247Sports director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong told The State. “I don’t really have a handle yet for it.”
Every ACC football team this academic year — except Clemson — has added at least one from the portal, according to 247Sports. Florida State has had 14 players enter the portal and added nine transfers back to the Seminoles’ roster, including two who left South Carolina after Will Muschamp was fired. The Gamecocks have lost 11 to the portal since August and added seven transfers since Shane Beamer’s hire.
Clemson opens the 2021 season with a neutral site game against border-rival Georgia. Eight Bulldogs entered the portal during this cycle. UGA doesn’t have any new transfer additions yet, but they added five last year — including two high-profile quarterbacks.
The opportunity to leave for another school once without penalty is only expected to make the transfer portal even more crowded. The NCAA delayed a January vote on the transfer proposal — it’s still expected to pass sometime in the coming months.
Swinney said the rule change will hurt smaller schools that evaluate well and whose players opt to seek a new opportunity at a bigger college or in a major conference.
“I think it’s going to be the Wild, Wild West, to be honest with you,” University of Richmond football coach football coach Russ Huesman told the Times-Dispatch. The Spiders compete in the FBS Colonial Athletic Association Conference.
As for the Tigers, don’t expect Clemson to use the portal to overhaul its roster, a source told The State.
The school could tap into the portal for a transfer if there is a top player available at a position of need. Or the Tigers might seek to add a transfer if there are roster departures for any reason that suddenly create an issue with depth.
Part of what makes Clemson attractive to high school recruits has been the roster stability, the program’s commitment to development and the lack of players transferring in. That core approach isn’t expected to change.
With that said, one thing is clear: As the rest of the college football world adapts to the transfer portal, Clemson is ready to do so as well.
So, which teams are using the transfer portal?
Looking at the Top 25 team recruiting rankings for the 2021 class via the 247Sports Composite, the top seven colleges had no roster additions via the transfer portal this recruiting cycle as of Friday. That includes Clemson, and it’s an indication those teams this recruiting cycle are exclusively signing (for now) high school recruits and junior college transfers. Get beyond the top seven, however, and 17 of the remaining 18 schools have utilized the transfer portal. Nine in the Top 25 have lost 10 or more from their own current roster through transfers.
Clemson, Texas A&M and Wisconsin are the only teams in the current recruiting Top 25 to never utilize the portal to add a transfer, according to 247Sports.
Bold denotes teams that have added at least one transfer; “—X” denotes a college that’s had 10 or more players enter the transfer portal since the summer.
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. LSU—X
5. Clemson
6. Oregon
7. Texas A&M
8. Southern Cal
9. Notre Dame
10. Oklahoma—X
11. Michigan—X
12. Florida
13. Miami
14. UNC—X
15. Tennessee—X (Vols have 20+ in portal)
16. Wisconsin
17. Texas—X
18. Maryland—X
19. Ole Miss
20. Nebraska—X
21. Arkansas
22. Iowa
23. Pitt
24. Missouri—X
25. Penn State
This story was originally published January 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
