NCAA eliminates spring transfer portal window

College football is officially moving to a single transfer portal window, but when the free agency is open remains undetermined. The NCAA Division I Administration Committee approved the elimination of the spring transfer portal window on Wednesday, sources tell On3.

The Division I Football Oversight Committee voted earlier in September to approve a 10-day portal, but that was not approved on Wednesday. It remains undetermined when the one-time portal will be, which was proposed for Jan. 2-11.

“In response to student-athlete feedback, football oversight committees will consider modifications to the proposed single January window, including the length of the window and corresponding dates,” the NCAA said in a statement.

If a head coach is fired, the 30-day portal window will still open for players. That includes Virginia Tech and UCLA, which made head coaching changes over the weekend. 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 move to a one-time-only portal is supposed to allow schools to finish their season with their entire team before the transfer portal opens. But the dates for this year’s transfer portal window remain unclear.

“Let’s say we agree to deal with player A and get a signed agreement, but because of the calendar, he doesn’t report to school for 20 more days,” an SEC general manager recently told On3. “On Day 16, school X calls because they missed on players B and C, and offer him more because they are desperate. We’re now back to square one with player A, and they hold all the leverage to re-negotiate. That’s not sustainable.”

Not everyone has been a supporter of the move. The Big Ten was the lone Power Four conference to not support the move.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea at all,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said earlier this month. “In the conversations that we had with the Big Ten coaches, I think the majority of them agree. I just don’t quite understand how teams that are playing in the playoffs are expected to make the decisions and sign their upcoming players while they’re still getting ready to play for games. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”