Chase Daniel reacts to one-time NCAA transfer portal window, calls for collective bargaining

As expected, the NCAA Administrative Committee approved dates for a January transfer portal window in college football. The one-time window will be Jan. 2-16.

During Wednesday night’s Missouri State at Middle Tennessee State game, ESPN analyst and former NFL QB Chase Daniel shared his reaction to the news. He also called for collective bargaining in college athletics.

Daniel agreed with the decision to go to one transfer portal window rather than have two, which has been the case in recent years. But he looked back on his time with the NFL Players Association and how collective bargaining played a role in the league. He called for college football to have similar protections.

“I think it’s smart,” Daniel said. “And look, I was board of representatives for the NFLPA for eight years and we had what was called the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association. There’s going to have to be something like that in college to protect the players and the university.

“So the collective bargaining agreement states rules within the workplace. Look, these guys aren’t amateurs anymore. We have Carson Beck making millions of dollars at Miami. They need protection but the school needs protection as well. They have guys going back to coaches after three games saying, ‘I need a raise coach or I’m transferring.’ They can’t do that anymore with this rule. It’s just ridiculous.”

The idea of collective bargaining has come about a few times as the college athletics landscape shifts. Following approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, athletes can now get a slice of the pie from schools through revenue-sharing. The NIL Go clearinghouse also went into place, as did the College Sports Commission, which is tasked with enforcement of settlement terms.

All the while, the idea of athletes as employees has also come to the forefront. Legal action on Capitol Hill seeks to avoid that, though. Notably, the SCORE Act – a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives – would protect athletes from employment status.

With that, multiple Power Four GMs said they support a collective bargaining model. Some around college athletics have also asked if there’s a way for athletes to collectively bargain without becoming employees.

Is there a way for students to collectively bargain and remain students, and not become employees?” said North Carolina’s Bubba Cunningham in late July. “Because you have all of the different laws by state, whether it’s a right-to-work state or not. You have public schools and private schools. And you have done a really good job of trying to segregate those entities into smaller groups and say, ‘Okay, maybe this group should be allowed to collectively bargain.’

“Then, we’d have to change some NCAA rules that would allow that portion of the governance structure to work differently than the rest of the governance structure. That’s what we’re working on, and I think we’re headed in the right direction. I think it’s just going to take some time to get there.”