New details emerge on rules surrounding transfer portal during coaching changes

The NCAA Division I Administrative Committee passed the one-time-only college football transfer portal window earlier this month, but On3 has learned that more changes are coming to the sport’s free agency.

While the 2025-26 college football transfer portal will last 15 days, spanning from Jan. 2 to Jan. 16, major changes were made regarding when players can enter following a coaching change. When the D-I Administrative Committee formally approved the one-time-only window, it announced that players would only have 15 days to enter the portal after a coaching change instead of 30 days. Players will also have to wait five days after a new coach is hired or announced, too.

On3 has learned the NCAA has sent guidance to schools that the portal window for when a new head coach is hired starts five days after the coach is hired, provided that occurs between January 2 and June 30.

For example, if a college football program hires a new head coach on Nov. 25, the portal would not open until Jan. 2. But if a program makes a coaching change in the spring and hires a new head coach, players will not have to wait as long as the hire is made before June 30.

The changes on player movement around coaching changes could significantly impact portal activity; however, sources have told On3 to expect players to announce their departures in November and December. Many across the industry are also bracing for silent commitments before the portal officially opens.

Previously, the portal opened 30 days immediately after a coaching change. Athletes at Virginia Tech, UCLA, Oklahoma State and Arkansas were grandfathered in. Graduate transfers also cannot enter the transfer portal until Jan. 2 with the new one-time-only portal window, On3 confirmed.

Back in January at the American Football Coaches Association convention in Charlotte, head coaches proposed to move the transfer portal to a 10-day window in early January after bowl games, with the spring window eliminated. The NCAA eliminated the spring window earlier this fall after more than 1,100 FBS scholarship players entered the transfer portal in April 2025 alone.