How Active Will Penn State Be in the 2021 Transfer Market?

Penn State's athletic director has called the NCAA Transfer Portal "a debacle." But the Lions also realize their recruiting future is tied to it.

The NCAA Transfer Portal isn't a terribly popular concept in college football, particularly at Penn State. Coach James Franklin has called it "problematic," and Athletic Director Sandy Barbour this summer referred to the portal as "a debacle."

But Penn State also understands how the portal is changing college football and how it needs to be part of a successful recruiting strategy. That's why Andy Frank, Penn State's director of player personnel, made this announcement on the Early Signing Day in December.

"I think we all kind of realized that, in the past for us at Penn State, transfers were not a big part of our overall recruiting process," Frank said. "That will change."

Penn State already has dipped into the portal, getting running back John Lovett from Baylor. In addition, defensive tackles Antonio Shelton and Judge Culpepper have entered their names into the portal, signaling a potentially busy offseason for the Lions.

Franklin said that Penn State would be active in pursuing potential transfers, specifically naming defensive end and defensive back as positions he's scouting. But the Lions could look for a variety of players, including possibly a quarterback for 2021 and beyond.

"You'll see some more activity in the second recruiting period [Signing Day is Feb. 3] as well as the transfer market, which is just really part of 2020 and where football is at and where football is headed," Franklin said.

Not everyone is a transfer portal fan. Last summer, Barbour shared some sharp criticism about the portal with agent Jill McBride Baxter on the podcast "Representation Without Taxation." Barbour wasn't critical of the act of transferring itself. Rather, she had issues with a portal concept that has made access to transferring players public, calling it the gateway to "total free agency."

Barbour agreed that athletes should have freedom of movement and not be required to receive permission, or have restrictions set, for transferring. But she also some limits need to be established.

"I think the portal itself has been a debacle," Barbour said on the podcast. "I don’t think we need a portal. The portal has just brought notoriety and attention to the whole system that we don’t need. Students put their name in the portal just for some attention.

"... The one thing I totally agree with is that students should not have to ask their current universities [for] permission. I never thought that was right. What’s kind of gotten conflated is, the portal came into play at the same time that we changed it from permission to notification. I totally agree with the notification. You just need to notify your current institution that you intend to explore a transfer. The other thing that I think has to happen is, I think there has to be time periods, because right now it’s total free agency. I think student-athletes ought to have some freedom of movement but I don’t think it’s boundless. That’s not fair to schools and programs and, frankly, it’s not fair to their teammates that they’re leaving. I don’t think that we’ll get rid of the portal. I wish we would."

Understanding why that won't happen, Penn State's recruiting coordinators both said they have made the transfer portal part of their process. Tight ends coach Tyler Bowen, who coordinates offensive recruiting, said transfers have to fit Penn State's locker room and culture but added that "it's not a thing we could turn a blind eye to and say, 'That's not us.'"

And cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, the defensive recruiting coordinator, called the portal part of "new talent acquisition."

"It's essentially free agency," Smith said. "... Hopefully we can grab three, four, maybe five guys of critical need."

So how active will Penn State be in the transfer market this winter? The Lions will make a real run at supplementing the 2021 recruiting class, particularly considering they have roster room. The most interesting position to watch will be quarterback, considering so many across the country have entered their names in the portal and competition will be hectic.

Penn State will be one of those competitors.

"We're not going to make a full-time living in terms of all our players coming from the transfer portal by any stretch of the imagination," Frank said. "We're still going to do the majority of our recruiting from the high school ranks. But we're going to be active in the transfer portal and we're going to be looking for guys who can help us to fill gaps. And then, in addition to filling gaps that we have  on our roster, create competition."

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