South Carolina tight end Michael Smith plans to enter Transfer Portal

South Carolina Gamecocks tight end Michael Smith plans to enter the Transfer Portal. This comes after he’s appeared in four games this season for the Gamecocks.

That four-game mark is important in the modern era of college football. It’s the limit that players can play in a season while still using a redshirt. That makes it the number many players play in before sitting out for the remainder of the season and entering the Transfer Portal.

Michael Smith initially came to South Carolina as a four-star recruit in the Class of 2024. He played his high school football at Calvary Day School. There, he was the ninth-ranked tight end and the 139th-ranked player overall in that recruiting cycle.

In his two seasons at South Carolina, Smith played in 16 games for the Gamecocks. In that time, he had 12 receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. That’s 10.5 yards per reception and 7.9 yards per game.

There had been some hope that 2025 would prove to be a breakout season for Smith. However, that hasn’t been the case to this point. Going into Week 1, he had been limited due to his health, so he hadn’t practiced as much as head coach Shane Beamer had wanted to see from him. Smith has also subsequently appeared on availability reports for South Carolina.

South Carolina is currently 3-2 on the season and just 1-2 in SEC play. Coming off a bye week, they’re now preparing to head to Death Valley to take on LSU without a promising tight end.

Changes coming to the NCAA Transfer Portal

There are major changes coming to the NCAA Transfer Portal this winter. That includes the decision to end the spring portal and make the winter window the only opportunity for players to enter the Transfer Portal. The expectation, then, is that there is a large flood going in the winter when some players may have wanted to test their situation in the spring window.

There are still some question marks to be answered. While it has been proposed that the winter window should be a shorter window that opens in January instead of December, that timing has not yet been made official. The  Division I Football Oversight Committee voted to make that window a 10-day one in January. However, for the time being, the NCAA Division I Administration Committee has yet to approve that window.

There are still plenty of details to be worked out. However, it’s clear that there are going to be major changes that everyone, player and coach, needs to contend with.