College football head coaches can breathe easier tonight. On Wednesday, the NCAA Administrative Committee decided to eliminate the spring transfer portal window, allowing just one window in January. Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger first reported the news.
It is a key moment in the game as it gets rid of what many head coaches consider a headache when putting together a roster. With the spring transfer portal window now closed, they don't have to worry about a player who had a big spring practice from receiving bigger offers from other schools, where they might have a brighter chance to play, or the money is too good to turn down.
Many head coaches have downgraded or even gotten totally rid of their spring game so as not to show competing schools what players have taken a leap in their play. This past April, Auburn and head coach Hugh Freeze held what could be called a glorified practice instead of the scrimmage that marked the Tigers' A-Day in the past.
The committee has proposed a one-time, 10-day transfer portal window, but has not yet decided on the exact number of days or the specific timeframe for implementation.
While the transfer portal will still be a busy time for coaches across the nation, they can rest easier knowing that it will all be over once spring practice begins. That's an improvement for a game that is slowly becoming the Wild West in many ways. If the transfer portal window is implemented in January, it could also save coaches the headache of having players sit out bowl games, including essential bowl games for the program's sake, because they have already entered the portal, which this past season was in December.
College football will never be perfect, far from it, but this is a vast improvement on what it has become over the past several years.