Florida’s Billy Napier, LSU’s Brian Kelly back transfer portal changes

As Florida Gators coach Billy Napier and LSU’s Brian Kelly prepare to square off Saturday at Tiger Stadium, both find themselves aligned on one issue off the field: recent changes to the college transfer portal windows. The FBS Oversight Committee voted last week to shift the winter transfer portal window from December to January while eliminating the April spring transfer window.

“The game is not perfect,” Billy Napier said this week. “We are trying to make (it) incremental. It’s about progress more than perfection. With the amount of investment that we are putting into the players and the roster. I think it’s critical that we at one time of year have a transaction time. Then you again have to go through that later in the spring. There may potentially two teams still playing but 99 percent of the teams will be finished playing and have the window. Those two teams will have an extension there.

There’s challenges that come with that. I do think that the majority of our team will help. We sign our class in December. We have about a month to work on retention. Then you kind of know where you are at, from a budgetary standpoint, going into the spring semester.”

Kelly echoed that support.

“We’re in support of the new portal window to a man in the SEC and I’ve talked to many that believe across the country, this is the progress that we need to make,” he said. “I want to get my roster set. Now, I know there’s probably 12 or 16 teams that might be in the playoffs at that time. I’m sorry, there’s no crying on the yacht. I mean, we got to get this thing set, and it’s best positioned at this time to allow us to set our rosters moving forward.”

Another vote is needed for the changes to pass

The changes are not yet official. According to reports, the NCAA’s Division I Administrative Committee must approve the legislation, with a vote expected by Oct. 1.

Not all coaches are in favor.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea at all,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day, whose team won the national title last season, told reporters. “And the conversations 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.”

Under the proposed plan, the new portal window would open Jan. 2. As Yahoo! Sports’ Nick Bromberg noted:

“Having the window begin in January means it would start after most bowl games are being played. However, the effects on teams still competing in the College Football Playoff would be exacerbated. The two playoff semifinal games are Jan. 8 and Jan. 9 and the portal window would close Jan. 11. A player whose team lost in the second semifinal game would have 48 hours to enter the portal after his team’s season was over. And if a player is on a team that makes it to the national title game, he’d have to choose between remaining at his school for another season or transferring before the season is over without a second transfer window. That’s a less than ideal situation for the teams advancing deep into the postseason, even if it would significantly change things for everyone else.”

Billy Napier likes one portal window instead of two

In 2025, the transfer portal featured a 20-day window in December and a 10-day window in April. Billy Napier explained why he favors moving to a single period.

“You have one window so all business will be done prior. You will know who is on your team,” Napier said. “Will there be grad transfers in the spring, maybe. A few junior college players and a few reclassifications late. There will still be an avenue to get a player here or there.

If you think about it, how many real transactions took place this spring? So 95 percent of your business is done in the winter. For us, we are hopeful that we can retain our guys and continue to sign really quality high school players and use the portal to patch up guys that opted for the draft or maybe so attrition or injures or some of those type of scenarios. I think you have seen our approach change each a little bit in each cycle based on the stability of our roster.”