CFB transfer portal tracker (2024)

Welcome to the era of unlimited transfers in college football.

Administrators and coaches have been putting it off for as long as possible, but it’s here. The rules limiting players to one transfer with immediate eligibility have been suspended since December and will likely be eliminated this week. Transfers are up almost 20 percent among FBS scholarship players from this time last year. The average Power 5 team has signed more than 10 transfers this offseason. And the spring transfer window opens on Tuesday.

In this evolving portal era, programs take different approaches to attacking that opportunity. Everyone must decide who they want to be when it comes to transfer recruiting, finding a strategy that fits their institution and ambition. As the action resumes, here’s a closer look at the five prominent styles of portal shopping you’ll see in the next two weeks.

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Last year, 90 FBS scholarship players entered the transfer portal on the first day of the spring window.

We just surpassed 90 entries before 11 a.m. ET.

Dear NCAA, Greg Sankey, Tony Pettitti and whoever is running college sports these days:

Psst. We, the people of the world interested in common sense solutions, ones that won’t be struck down by a court, have an idea for you.

We bring it to you as the football transfer portal opens for the spring. The basketball portal window is already open. And we know you’re already hearing from your upset coaches. They’re upset about a lost investment, about players who signed with them, were the focus of their time and expense and are now leaving for another place. Maybe to cash in. Well, almost certainly to cash in.

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The first big portal move for Colorado is starting left tackle Savion Washington. The former Kent State transfer who came to Boulder alongside former head coach Sean Lewis is in the portal. The 6-foot-8, 320-pound tackle started 10 games for the Buffaloes in 2023. The Buffaloes did add five-star left tackle Jordan Seaton from IMG Academy during this year’s signing period, and when you land a big fish like that, generally the writing is on the wall.

Last October, CU head coach Deion Sanders praised Washington saying he was "a future pro,"

Lewis left after one tumultuous year as OC at Colorado to accept the head coaching job at San Diego State. Washington is off to look for a new start and let’s see if this is the first of many dominoes for Sanders in Year 2.

We just had one of the funnier mix-ups I've seen in my years covering portal recruiting. There were several reports this morning that Ole Miss safety Key Lawrence had re-entered the portal, but the Oklahoma transfer isn't going anywhere. It was actually Ole Miss backup linebacker Keyshawn Lawrence who hit the portal. Yes, the Rebels had two dudes with the same name on their team. Gotta keep your head on a swivel during portal season.

Texas A&M CB Sam McCall has re-entered the transfer portal. The former top-50 recruit and Florida State transfer made one start and played 111 snaps for the Aggies in 2023, but new coach Mike Elko has really overhauled his secondary with eight portal pickups heading into Year 1.

One year removed from his transfer to Oklahoma State, Alan Bowman sat in the stands of NRG Stadium in Houston for the College Football Playoff national championship, watching his former Michigan Wolverines teammates win the title through a unique lens.

“It’s a little weird,” he said, “but just more excited than anything. … I know the grind they go through every day.”

After transferring from Texas Tech in 2021, Bowman spent two seasons as a reserve at Michigan. He stayed the course to get his master’s degree from the Ross School of Business even as he slid down the depth chart. In January 2023, Bowman transferred to Oklahoma State, where he will return as the starting quarterback for his seventh season of eligibility in 2024, utilizing extra years from a medical hardship waiver and the pandemic-altered 2020 season.

There’s no sense of animosity as Bowman talks about his experience watching his former team win the national title. He says he “couldn’t be happier” with his new team in Stillwater. But split loyalty? That’s present in more ways than one.

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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Believe it or not, they used to call this place Quarterback U.

Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson and Gino Torretta — an NFL Hall of Famer and two Heisman Trophy winners among six draft selections — started for the Hurricanes from 1980 through 1992 and combined to win four national championships.

Times have changed.

The Hurricanes have had only one 10-win season since they joined the ACC in 2004 and have had only one quarterback drafted since Ken Dorsey led the program to its last national title in 2001.

“Whoever has the best quarterback usually has the best team,” Hurricanes legend Alonzo Highsmith once said while watching a prospect camp on campus. “We don’t need Aaron Rodgers or Baker Mayfield. We just need a good college quarterback.”

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College football’s transfer portal re-opens this week in a climate with fewer restrictions to player movement than ever before, and after months of confusion, the NCAA could be close to simplifying its transfer rules for good to keep the current player freedoms in place long-term.

At a meeting that begins Wednesday, the NCAA’s Division I Council will have an opportunity to adopt emergency legislation that would allow all undergraduate athletes to transfer and play immediately as long as they meet specific academic requirements, formally ushering in an era of unlimited free transfers for most athletes.

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Mike Norvell and Jeff Brohm built the crux of their 2023 teams through the transfer portal and combined to win 23 games and reach the ACC Championship Game.

So it’s hardly a surprise Florida State and Louisville once again have the top-rated transfer classes in the league, according to 247Sports, ranking No. 3 and No. 4 overall.

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On Thanksgiving weekend, Ethan Barr played in the final game of his four-year career at Vanderbilt, recording seven tackles in a 48-24 loss at Tennessee to wrap up a 2-10 season with the Commodores.

Six weeks later, the linebacker from Flower Mound, Texas, was on the sidelines at NRG Stadium in Houston wearing a Washington Huskies jersey as a member (sort of) of a team playing for a national championship.

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There are not a lot of losers in college football’s most talented and toughest conference — especially when it comes to the transfer portal.

But we are coming off one of those rare seasons in which the SEC didn’t have a team playing in the national championship game and one in which Nick Saban, the greatest coach in college football history, retired and Jimbo Fisher, a former national champion, was fired.

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Greetings from the transfer portal. Indiana has kicked off the first day of the spring transfer window by entering four players into the portal: RB Trent Howland, WR Derrick Bohler, WR Kamryn Perry and QB Broc Lowry.

New Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti loaded up on transfers with a strong haul in the winter featuring a bunch of his players from James Madison, so it's not surprising to see end-of-spring attrition. Howland led IU in rushing last season with 354 yards and 2 TDs on 75 carries, has two more seasons of eligibility and is already earning Power 5 interest.

Wisconsin defensive lineman T.J. Bollers intends to enter the transfer portal, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Athletic. Bollers, a four-star prospect out of high school from Tiffin, Iowa, was recruited to play outside linebacker.

He was listed at 278 pounds before last season and moved to the defensive line late in the year. Bollers, who appeared in 16 career games, has two years of eligibility remaining. He becomes the second Badgers player to enter the portal this spring, joining quarterback Nick Evers.

Wisconsin’s defensive line depth takes a bit of a hit with Bollers moving on. Bollers had earned snaps with the second-team defense this spring and was in the mix to be a rotational piece next season.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan was only a few weeks removed from winning a national championship, but there was no time left to celebrate.

The afterparty was cut short when coach Jim Harbaugh bolted for the Chargers on Jan. 25, setting off a month of major transition at Michigan. Along with the exit of quarterback J.J. McCarthy and 17 other NFL combine invitees, new coach Sherrone Moore faced a steady drip-drip-drip of coaching departures, a sprint to assemble a new staff and a 30-day transfer window that sparked open bidding for some of Michigan’s returning stars.

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