Mack Brown maps out negative aspect of allowing players to transfer too much

Just this offseason, 4,067 college football players entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, opting to go elsewhere to continue their collegiate careers.

Legendary head coach Mack Brown, formerly of Texas and North Carolina, joined former ESPN College GameDay analyst David Pollack on his “See Ball Get Ball” podcast to discuss his feelings on players that transfer multiple times.

“If a young guy transfers five times, his chances of graduating are nearly nothing,” Brown said. “I think if you transfer once some of the courses do not transfer in, so you’ve got like a 63% chance to graduate. If you transfer a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth time… you’re not gonna graduate. You’re not going to have a fanbase who loves you or will help you. You’re Georgia [directed at David Pollack]. Everybody knows the school you’re loyal to. Your people love you. You’re recognized. That’s not gonna happen with a guy who transfers four or five times.”

“How do we get our game back?”

Brown, who coached at Texas from 1998-2013 and won a National Championship in 2005, un-retired and coached at North Carolina from 2019-2024. As a coach who has been affiliated with the sport of college football for 51 years, the College Football Hall of Famer has seen it all in his time.

“So then, you’re not going to be able to get a job,” Brown continued. “You don’t have a degree and I really worry about mental health. When this young person is out there and he made more NIL money to go to a school than he’s going to be able to make for the rest of his life. That’s a problem for sure. We’ve got to look at what’s best for the players, what’s best for the families and what’s best for the sport. We’ve got to get a group of smart people together because we’ve made decisions without looking at the consequences.”

Brown finished his discussion by recommending that the entire sport come together to figure out how to prevent this from happening so often, including everyone from administration to the players.

“We can say that’s not legal, but the NFL is doing it,” Brown said. “So whether it’s collective bargaining or player unions, let’s get a group of smart people. Let’s get congress and commissioners. The ADs and presidents. Let’s get players. Let’s get the Drake Maye‘s, let’s get the top players and coaches in the country. Get them all in a room and let’s throw out all the lawsuits and figure out what is best for everybody involved. How do we get our game back?”