The Transfer Portal, How it Changes High School Football Recruiting

High School football players are constantly being overlooked because of the transfer portal.

Brian Smith | Dec 12, 2021

Several top high school football players are in a holding pattern. With the way the NCAA has allowed immediate eligibility for college transfers, the volume of high school players that are now impacted has magnified. College coaches have good reason to go this route, much to the chagrin of prep football players on the bubble of receiving scholarship offers.

When a college football coach knows that winning now matters to fans, college administrators, and especially to big-money boosters or there’s a good chance of being fired, one can bet that college coaches consider their options carefully with recruiting. There’s a simple question that needs to be answered each time a high school prospect is vetted.

Is it safer to take the high school football player or someone that’s been through the rigors of being a college football player before deciding to transfer?

Based on the early returns from how college coaches are recruiting down the home stretch before the Dec. 15 National Signing Day, the answer is resounding and it goes to the Transfer Portal. Checking in with college football programs across different conferences and states, there’s a definite rise in interest to sign players with experience at the college level that are now looking for a new home.

Even elite programs like Alabam and Head Coach Nick Saban hit the Transfer Portal. See Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams as an example, as he’s a prime reason the Crimson Tide sit at No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Williams is what a program like Alabama wants: a top-notch impact player that can play from the first game he’s on campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala. That’s a great situation for Alabama, but how many players like Williams really hit the Transfer Portal?

There are only a few players like Williams each year. He was a national recruit coming out of St. Louis before originally signing with Ohio State.

Williams has 68 receptions, 1,445 yards, a 21.3 average, and 15 receiving touchdowns. The Buckeyes’ loaded wide receiver depth chart allowed Williams to explore his options before finding a home at Alabama. Obviously it is working out well.

Alabama is not alone in its pursuit of top-notch talent, and this is when the situation becomes harder to follow.

Even programs around Florida, one of the most fertile states in the country for high school football, have really slowed down on accepting the commitments of high school players. Here’s an example with a program like Florida State attempting to quickly build its program back up.

Florida State’s current list of prospects that pledged to the Seminoles does not have a high school commitment since offensive lineman Jaylen Early decided to take his talents to Tallahassee on Aug. 2, and he’s from Duncanville, Texas, just outside of Dallas.

So even Florida State, a program that’s a perennial in-state recruiting power, has passed up at least some talented prospects within the Sunshine State for quite some time.

Which high school players from Florida would the Seminoles coaching staff have accepted during that time? There’s just no way for the public to know the full list of those prospects. Therefore, the data is simply incomplete, making it frustrating to fully understand. There is one obvious item to note as it relates to talent here in Florida.

Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell accepted 12 players from the Transfer Portal for the 2021 season, including one game changer.

Edge defender Jermaine Johnson came to Florida State from Georgia and he might be the Seminoles top overall player. He has an impressive stat line for 2021: 11.5 sacks, 17.5 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hurries, 70 tackles, two passes broken up, and one fumble recovery and return for a touchdown.

#FSU defensive star Jermaine Johnson has been named First-Team All-American. #Noles https://t.co/Xt6fAVzyGY
— NoleGameday Recruiting (@NoleRecruiting) December 10, 2021

Like Williams that went to Alabama, Johnson is a stud and he impacts the game.

Florida State should not be looked at as being different because it took several transfers either. This is a trend across college football, as several 2021 recruiting classes down South, in Power Five conferences, display varying levels of dependency on the Transfer Portal:

Georgia Tech (10), Louisville (6), North Carolina State (4), Arkansas (6), Kentucky (7), LSU (3), Mississippi State (7), South Carolina (10), Tennessee (10), Baylor (5), Texas (7) and TCU (6).

It’s the same with most programs across the country and not just the footprint of Dixie. Regardless of location, it’s certainly frustrating prep players that feel they deserve scholarships, and their friends are taking notice as well.

Take current Georgia Football commitment Raymond Cottrell as an example. He’s a national wide receiver recruit in the class of 2023 and he had a plethora of offers before finally settling on the Georgia Bulldogs. He’s the exception, however, and not the rule.

Players with experience at the FCS level are wanting their shot at the FBS. Take a look at this player, as his statistics are noteworthy:

2 years worth of stats #transferportal pic.twitter.com/deC9MpvCvb
— Christian “Zeek” Dixon (@zeekyzeek44) December 4, 2021

Beyond the FCS players attempting to climb the ladder into the FBS, most really good high school players are fortunate to be on the fringe of being offered by those same FBS programs, let alone a super power like Georgia. Cottrell is a big-time talent, no question, and he’s an exception to the rule. That being stated, he’s none too happy with what’s happening because of the Transfer Portal. Here’s what Cottrell said on Dec. 8:

this transfer portal IS CRAZY MY BROTHERS PUT THEY BLOOD,SWEAT AND TEARS into this game and they can’t even get looked at smh something gotta be fixed 🤦🏿
— Raymond Cottrell (@RaymondCottre14) December 9, 2021

The “smh” acronym, standing for shaking my head, is the same sentiment that many high school players use as to why they are not being offered scholarships. Three questions about the situation to be pondered, and anyone can decide what they think from there.

Should there be a limit on the number of players a college football program can accept via transfer within a calendar year (Alabama to San Jose State, all FBS schools) so that it makes college football players at least think before transferring? There will only be so many scholarships at the so-called big-time programs if that rule went into effect so perhaps more players would think twice before entering their name into the Transfer Portal.
Should there be a minimum number of high school and junior college players taken before college programs accept transfers?
Should the NCAA mandate that each player that wishes to enter the Transfer Portal has to sit down with a member of the NCAA (Zoom, etc.) or at least a member of his current institution’s academic and/or athletic staff so that information is gathered about why players are transferring?

Plenty of other questions could be brought into the equation as well. It’s hard to simply pinpoint an easy answer for the dilemma.

There does not appear to be any end in sight for college coaches preferring the Transfer Portal, but there could be changes coming. The above questions are just a few possible areas to examine, but far from the only questions to be asked.

Inside The Knights will continue to examine the issues with the Transfer Portal through different perspectives to help clarify what’s going happening as close to real time as possible. Look for more information before the second National Signing Day on Feb. 2, 2022. The Transfer Portal is truly changing high school football recruiting.

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