Ryan Day doubles down on criticism of one transfer window, details concern

There is now going to just be one Transfer Portal window that’s set in the winter moving forward. For the most part, coaches seem to be in favor of it, though there have been some notable exceptions. That includes Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, who has his concerns.

Notably, Day’s issue isn’t necessarily that there is only going to be one Transfer Portal window. It’s when that window will open. As of now, it’s set to open in January, which is when teams competing in the College Football Playoff still have games. Those teams will have an additional window for their players to enter once the season opens, making it very difficult for teams that expect to compete for national championships, like Ohio State, to navigate the portal.

“Well, I don’t think it’s bad for everybody,” Ryan Day said. “I think it’s actually good for a lot of teams, but the teams that are making it late into the Playoff are really up against the eight ball. Because not only are they forced to make decisions while they’re still playing, and a lot of them school has started already by the time their season’s over. But, once the season is over, there’s a five-day window where the transfer portal is open. And then there’s no opportunity to replace those guys for the teams who are in that situation.”

This move to limit the portal was a long time coming. The  Division I Football Oversight Committee voted to make that window a 10-day one in January. The NCAA Division I Administration Committee quickly approved the move to one winter window. Now, the January window has been approved too.

For his part, Ryan Day, as recently as this past offseason, defended there being two Transfer Portal windows. The logic then was similar to what it is now. Because of that, he also would have preferred to see only a Spring window if there were to be just the one window.

“So I’m not sure how they expect the teams who are in that situation to replace the players that are leaving in that moment,” Day said. “There’s no more chance. So, I’ve brought this up several times. Apparently, it’s gone on deaf ears. But we obviously want to be in that situation. But whoever it is is probably going to wake up and say, ‘Wait a minute, this isn’t right. I have five or six guys that I need to replace on my roster, and I can’t now.’ So at that point, maybe somebody will listen. But as of now, they decided to make the rule, and we all have to deal with it. So nobody cares. So move on. That’s the way it goes. And that’s just the way we’ll look at it. So we’ll get our plan together and go from there.”

In the 2025 transfer class, Ohio State added 10 total players. That included four players who came in during the spring. Those players would need to make the decision to move months sooner now. It’s a challenge Day knows he needs to adjust to quickly.

“I think there’s still a lot to be worked through, for sure. Yeah. It’s something that I know the decision’s been made,” Day said. “But like anything else, there’s going to be a ripple effect and unintended consequences that we’re all going to have to work through. But that’s something we’re used to. So we just got to keep pushing forward. That’s it.”

This is going to be the first season for the Transfer Portal to only open in January. Certainly, the expectation for Ryan Day is that he’ll need to navigate that alongside a College Football Playoff run.