Brent Key supports one transfer portal window in January for college football

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key is in support of one transfer portal window for January when it comes to college football. According to him, he’s not alone in that assessment.

That’s what they voted for among the AFCA. With two portal windows in the winter and spring, college football has seen unprecedented movement in recent years. You’ll even see early enrollee freshman practice and be on campus for three months and immediately transfer in the spring window, for one reason or another.

There’s already discussions to remake the spring football calendar. So if that gets done, along with one transfer portal window, Key and others will see a smoother process in college football’s offseason.

“I spoke my mind internally to our conference head coaches and the AFCA and gave my votes,” Key said on Sirius XM. “But that’s uncontrollable by me, and that’s a lot of wasted time and energy to worry about things that you can’t control and you cannot affect, right? I’m worried about spending time on things that I can affect, and that’s not one of them. I support the one portal window. 

“And just as every other college football head coach voted for … we unanimously came out of the AFCA meetings, unanimously voting for an early January portal day. I support that and I stand strong with the rest of the college football coaches.”

Brent Key supports one transfer portal window

As for the transfer portal, current rules call for two windows – one in the winter after the final CFP rankings announcement and another during the spring. However, coaches don’t want the portal to open during the spring, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. Instead, coaches like Key and others want one singular window.

“I’m certainly in favor of shortening the portal windows,” South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer previously told On3. “I’m not anti-portal. We’ve benefited from the portal, but people don’t need two different portal windows that cover around six weeks to decide that they want to transfer from somewhere. You either want to be a part of that program or you don’t.”

Dates for the 2025-2026 winter transfer portal window have not officially been released. Last year saw things open up right after conference championship week until Dec. 28. Players who were still in the CFP were given special exemptions and provided the opportunity to enter for a few days after being eliminated.