The college football transfer portal reopens Tuesday and closes April 30, giving players the opportunity to find new landing spots and teams the opportunity to fill any personnel shortages for the fall.
As of Sunday morning, the 18 Big Ten schools had 299 football players enter the transfer portal during the previous cycle, according to player entries compiled by On3 and totaled by Athleticism. These numbers reflect the 2023-24 cycle that began December 4, 2023 through January 2, 2024 and extends through this spring For players who entered the portal after their season ended in January, their coaches are left for another job or graduated. transfers.
Of those transfers, 217 found new homes, 29 withdrew from the portal and two opted for the NFL Draft. These schools added 153 commitments or enrollees during this cycle.
Big Ten portal movement
Team | Portal exits | Withdrawals | New houses | Additions | NFL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 |
1 |
6 |
7 |
0 |
|
30 |
5 |
22 |
21 |
0 |
|
7 |
0 |
6 |
1* |
0 |
|
14 |
1 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
|
15 |
0 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
|
31 |
ten |
20 |
12* |
1 |
|
ten |
0 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
|
ten |
1 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
|
ten |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
|
22 |
2 |
20 |
7 |
0 |
|
13 |
0 |
12 |
11 |
0 |
|
8 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
|
26 |
0 |
22 |
16 |
0 |
|
12 |
0 |
9 |
4 |
0 |
|
18 |
2 |
11 |
7 |
0 |
|
22 |
1 |
16 |
11 |
0 |
|
26 |
6 |
15 |
14 |
0 |
|
16 |
0 |
15 |
12 |
0 |
*An addition from Iowa, MSU will enter the portal.
Here are some Big Ten portal issues and topics to know about before the spring window opens:
QB movement – Expect a second wave of quarterbacks to hit the portal this week or once spring training ends. Wisconsin backup Nick Evers announced Saturday he will enter the portal and others will likely follow.
Ohio State is the team to watch with five quarterbacks boasting four or five star recruiting or transfer grades. They include Kansas State graduate Will Howard, junior Devin Brown, sophomore Lincoln Kienholz and true freshmen Julian Sayin and Air Noland. It seems like Howard and Brown are the favorites and both have had their moments this spring. The Buckeyes face this situation almost every year, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if at least one, maybe two, quarterbacks leave this week.
During the last cycle, 23 quarterbacks left Big Ten programs. Quarterbacks who arrived during the previous portal cycle include Howard and Sayin (Alabama signee), Kurtis Rourke from Indiana (Ohio), MJ Morris from Maryland (NC State), Aidan Chiles from State of Michigan (Oregon State) and Tommy Schuster (North Dakota), Max Brosmer of Minnesota. (New Hampshire) and Logan Fife (Fresno State), Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma) and Dante Moore (UCLA) from Oregon, Athan Kaliakmanis from Rutgers (Minnesota), Jayden Maiava from USC (UNLV), Will Rogers from Washington (Mississippi State) and Demond Williams (Arizona signee) and Tyler Van Dyke of Wisconsin (Miami).
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New coaches — Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA and Washington have new coaches this spring while Northwestern’s David Braun moved from interim coach to full-time coach. The Spartans (31), Hoosiers (30) and Huskies (26) have recorded more than two dozen starts, while late openers Michigan (15) and UCLA (18) have seen levels of attrition mixed.
The Wolverines and Huskies played for the national title and had completely different offseasons. Elevating Sherrone Moore from assistant to head coach to replace Jim Harbaugh, Michigan was overall stable with five losses to Power 4 institutions (LB Joey Velazquez vs. Ohio State, safety Keon Sabb at Alabama, cornerback Cameron Calhoun vs. Utah , cornerback Amorion Walker vs. Ole Mademoiselle, tight end Matthew Hibner at SMU).
Washington’s Jedd Fisch replaced Kalen DeBoer, who left for Alabama after the national title game. The Huskies had perhaps the most volatile January of any program. Fisch, who left Arizona for Washington, brought with him eight Wildcats and a ninth (former Indiana cornerback Jordan Shaw) who had already committed to Arizona. Washington was left with 26 departures, 14 additions and six players remaining after coming out of the portal.
Northwestern (10) had just one addition during the previous window, but with a quarterly academic calendar, it’s difficult for the university to make mid-year transfers. Traditionally, Northwestern does much better with late spring additions.
UCLA hired all-time great running back DeShaun Foster to replace former head coach Chip Kelly, who left the Bruins to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
The three real new head coaches brought many of their former players with them. Like Fisch, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti recruited 10 players from James Madison. Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith brought two key players from Oregon State — Chilis and tight end Jack Velling — but convinced 10 Spartans to stay with the program.
Assistant changes — New coordinators could have as much impact as head coaches when it comes to player acquisition. Offensive coordinators who could influence the move include Kelly, Iowa’s Tim Lester, Penn State’s Andy Kotelnicki and Northwestern’s Zach Lujan. On the defensive side, keep an eye on Michigan’s Wink Martindale, Penn State’s Tom Allen (former Indiana head coach), and USC’s D’Anton Lynn.
A tight number of scholarships — A few schools, particularly Penn State and Iowa, currently have more than 90 scholarship recipients and are expected to reach 85 by August. It’s possible, even likely, that both are still adding players to the portal. But both schools will have multiple exits this spring after posting the fewest (Iowa, seven) and tied for second-most (Penn State, eight) departures last cycle.
Intra-conference transfers — All but two Big Ten programs added a player from the conference, for a total of 29. Purdue added the most (four), while neither Northwestern nor Iowa added players from other Big Ten institutions.
Remarks — There is, however, an asterisk attached to the total number of conference transfers. Former Purdue wide receiver TJ Sheffield has committed to Michigan State but is looking for a new home. Additionally, tackle Kadyn Proctor transferred from Alabama to Iowa in January, then left the Hawkeyes before the start of spring practice last month in hopes of joining the Tide. These numbers are listed as additions for the Spartans and Hawkeyes but will change this week. Additionally, Evers’ exit is not yet planned.
(Kurtis Rourke photo: Rich Janzaruk / Herald-Times / USA Today)