Gophers defensive back Craig McDonald enters the transfer portal

Minnesota has its first portal entry of the season.

Craig McDonald / / Gophers Sports

Wait, the transfer portal is open in the middle of the season?

Yes, and Gophers defensive back Craig McDonald isn't the only player to have entered his name. Much like other players across the country, McDonald has not appeared in four games this season, so he is opting to preserve a season of eligibility and look for a new home.

NEWS: #Gophers DB Craig McDonald (@Craig7mcd) has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Minneapolis native will be looking for his 4th school after transferring from Iowa St to Auburn and then UMN in 2023 offseason.

He played 45 total snaps (12/1gm this szn) in Gophers' career.… pic.twitter.com/omuLlKxUTT

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) October 15, 2024

Hailing from Minneapolis, McDonald transferred back home to the Gophers before the start of the 2023 season. He began his college career at Iowa State where he played 426 total snaps across two seasons. He then transferred to Auburn in 2022 and played only 25 snaps for the Tigers.

As a backup to versatile defensive back Jack Henderson, McDonald played only 33 snaps last season after facing a long battle with the NCAA for a waiver for immediate eligibility. This season he played in only one game, where he logged 12 snaps against Rhode Island.

He was seemingly passed on the depth chart by redshirt sophomore Coleman Bryson and TCU transfer Jai'Onte McMillan, who have taken all of the nickel snaps that Henderson has left behind.

Having been in college for five years, plus the additional COVID-19 year from 2020, it's difficult to gauge exactly how many seasons of eligibility McDonald has remaining, but he will now look for his fourth different home.

Many top programs like Iowa, Georgia Tech and Lousiville have already had players enter the transfer portal this season. The Gophers are not the first and they won't be the last. This is the way of modern college football.