Transfer portal rules to know past the window's midpoint

Amidst the chaos that is the transfer portal window, there is justifiable confusion about the timelines these recruitments are on. That’s not only for fans, it’s for a lot of coaches, players, and representatives as well.

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First things first, we are in a three-day dead period until January 14. No visits, no off-campus contact.

Now, the transfer portal window. If you are a player who is NOT a graduate transfer, then this January 2 through January 16 period is the only window where you can enter the transfer portal. We’ll get to extenuating circumstances in a bit.

A player has up until 11:59:59 p.m. on January 16 to tell his school’s compliance department that he wants to enter the transfer portal. That compliance department then has a 48-hour window to put that player into the portal. Obviously, schools and coaches can notify the player, his family, or his rep in that 48-hour window as a last-ditch effort to retain the player.

If retention efforts do not land, the player enters the transfer portal database. The portal is basically a big spreadsheet of players sorted by sport and school without any information on position, games played, stats, or anything like that. Just NCAA mumbo-jumbo.

From that point, schools and coaches can directly communicate with the player.

What’s the deadline for a decision for players?

Practicality… maybe.

It behooves players to choose a school quickly, get enrolled, attend classes, ingratiate themselves with a new team, learn the playbook, and take part in winter strength and conditioning.

When it comes to the whole school thing, the first day of school for Texas is today, January 12. The sixth class day is January 20, which is listed as the “last day for undergraduate students to add a class.”

The real academic deadline is probably the 12^th class day on January 28, which in years past has been the last day to add a class without school approval. That’s not listed on this year’s UT calendar, but it’s hard to think anything has drastically changed.

Which leads to a new wrinkle: some players may not be in a hurry to enroll. There’s a recruitment process to be enjoyed with official visits, negotiations, and the like. Players can sign paperwork that binds the school to providing scholastic financial aid to the player, but that doesn’t mean the player has to attend the school. There is also NIL paperwork to be done, which is likely more binding.

So don’t be surprised if some players around the country miss spring practice because they elect to enroll in the summer. While that would have been a significant downgrade to a player’s instant-impact status in years past, the ability for coaches and players to work together during the summer in “skills training” helps to mitigate the lack of padded practices in spring ball. Plus, spring ball looks a whole lot different these days, though it could return to normal since the spring window is gone.

With no transfer portal window in the spring, the only way a player can depart the roster is if they enter as a graduate transfer (allowable at any time) or if the school’s head coach is fired. Per On3, if that happens…

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.

So if Jedd Fisch left Washington to be the Commanders’ offensive coordinator and Washington turned around and hired Chris Petersen as a one-year stopgap, then the portal for Huskies players would not open until five days after Petersen’s hire was made official. It would only be open for 15 days, too.

There will be a quiz on this on the 11^th class day.