College Football Transfer Portal Winners, Losers in 2023

Taking a turn around the college football transfer portal to see which teams gained the most, and which lost the most, ahead of the 2023 season

Like it or not — and fans, not to mention coaches, are highly split on the question — the transfer portal has forever changed college football.

By allowing players to have immediate eligibility for their first transfer, the NCAA has introduced a kind of free agency to the process, and schools have had to be fast to adapt to the new environment.

More: NCAA makes change to transfer portal rule: What it means

Some schools have done well, and others not so much. 

There are coaches who use the portal to add some depth or variety to a position, and other coaches who get more aggressive and remake much of their rosters with new talent for the coming season.

2023 College Football Transfer Portal Winners and Losers

Who has come out ahead and who is getting left behind in the 2023 cycle?

Winner: UCLA

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Aggressive in the portal: Chip Kelly has done some positive work in the transfer portal recently, most notably supercharging UCLA's offense with the addition of running back Zach Charbonnet and wide receiver Jake Bobo, both of whom were pivotal in returning the Bruins to prominence this past season.

Skill pieces: UCLA needed a quarterback to replace Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and found one in Collin Schlee, a potentially great addition from Kent State who is ranked as a consensus top 10 transfer piece at the position, and tabbed Carson Steele from Ball State to succeed Charbonnet behind center. Kyle Ford came over from rival USC, a former 5-star from Orange Lutheran who had an offer from the Bruins but played 24 games at Southern Cal, catching 40 balls for 637 yards and five TDs.

Little known, but important add-ons: Wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant is a top 10 player at his position among 2023 transfers, as are players like edge rusher Jake Heimlicher from Penn and safety Jordan Anderson from Bowling Green. UCLA may not get huge names, but the players it has added have been crucial in building a solid foundation recently.

Loser: Arkansas

Sam Pittman's effort to keep Arkansas on course took some serious hits this offseason as seven starters elected to transfer out of the program.

Hogs defense takes a hit: Including some important pieces on defense like lineman Jordan Domineck and a trio of defensive backs in Myles Slusher (to Colorado), Jalen Catalon (to Texas), and Simeon Blair (Memphis). Domineck had 7.5 sacks and 9.5 TFLs this past season, production he'll take to Colorado after initially announcing he would return to Arkansas.

Missing targets: Wide receiver Ketron Jackson jumped ship, as did tight end Trey Knox. Both were surprise departures for the Razorbacks after they combined for eight touchdown catches in 2022 and 573 total yards receiving, a pair of costly losses for returning quarterback KJ Jefferson.

Winner: LSU

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Chip Kelly turned heads in his debut season, leading LSU to a win over Alabama and an SEC West title, and he's looking to do it again on the back of some solid recruiting out of the transfer portal.

Especially at cornerback: That's where LSU picked up four instant impact pieces, including headliner Denver Harris, a former five-star who was part of Texas A&M's historic recruiting class a year ago, and a consensus top-five prospect nationally in the portal.

Zy Alexander, Duce Chestnut, and JK Johnson are also features of LSU's new-look cornerback room, some important work by Kelly and his staff after watching the position group suffer some big departures.

Target for Jayden: Wide receiver Aaron Anderson comes over from Alabama after emerging as a top 75 recruit nationally and a top 10 receiver from Edna Karr High in Louisiana, an important pickup after losing Kayshon Boutte to the draft.

Loser: South Carolina

A year ago, Shane Beamer was considered a rising star of the transfer portal after landing the likes of quarterback Spencer Sanders from Oklahoma, but now he's watching as some prominent weapons say goodbye.

On offense: The Gamecocks lost some vital playmakers on the offensive side of the ball including star tight end Jaheim Bell (going to Florida State), running back MarShawn Lloyd (headed to USC), and tight end Austin Stogner, who is going back to Oklahoma after transferring in from there last offseason.

And on defense: South Carolina lost two vital defensive pieces, including Gilber Edmond, who is joining Bell with the Seminoles next season, and most crucially Jordan Burch, a former five-star recruit from Columbia who is headed across the country.

Reunion for Burch: The defensive lineman was heavily recruited by Dan Lanning when he was defensive coordinator at Georgia in 2020 but elected to stay close to home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now he's back with Lanning after he became head coach at Oregon and figures to give an instant jolt to a Duck front seven that had some losses of its own.

Winner: Wisconsin

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A new look Wisconsin: First year coach Luke Fickell says he won't change the Badgers' identity too much, but looking at his hires and transfer portal pickups, it's safe to say Wisconsin is undergoing some major renovations in 2023.

Quarterbacks: After bringing on coveted offensive coordinator Phil Longo, the Badgers want to open things up, and will have great options at QB including Oklahoma transfer Nick Evers and former SMU starter (and likely No. 1 this fall) Tanner Mordecai. The latter had over 7,000 passing yards and 72 touchdowns the last two seasons.

Skill pickups: To help those quarterbacks out and balance things offensively, UW brought in two superb receiving options including C.J. Williams out of USC and Bryson Green from Oklahoma State to stretch out Big Ten defenses in '23.

Loser: Oklahoma State

A falling star? Things are trending down generally for the Cowboys in what's been a rough offseason. Just a year after playing for the Big 12 title, the program saw defensive coordinator Derek Mason step down and take a sabbatical from coaching and the team's recruiting efforts have hit the skids.

Offensive exodus: Four-year quarterback Spencer Sanders turned heads when he left the school, landing at Ole Miss, where he's expected to take the reins in a pretty intense QB competition with Jaxson Dart and Walker Howard, themselves both transfers: Dart from USC in 2022 and Howard from LSU this year.

Skill losses: Running back Dominic Richardson also announced his departure from OSU this offseason in addition to three of the team's five top wide receivers. Edge rusher Trace Ford, linebacker Mason Cobb, and defensive back Thomas Harper are all gone.

Winner: Auburn

New leadership: Hugh Freeze is back in the SEC, taking over at Auburn after the unsuccessful tenure of Bryan Harsin came to its inevitable conclusion. First thing on his agenda is beefing up both lines of scrimmage, neither of which played anything like SEC-caliber football in 2022.

Up front: Freeze made some huge headway on the offensive line with some outstanding transfer additions including Avery Jones, a consensus top five lineman in the portal who will step in at center this fall from East Carolina. That's in addition to Dillon Wade out of Tulsa and Gunner Britton from Western Kentucky, both top 10 outside blockers in the portal.

Depth on D: Auburn fans should welcome former Kentucky interior tackle Justin Rogers, a top 10 lineman in this year's transfer class, a physical presence who should help the Tigers recover from some sluggish run defense in '22.

Winner: Florida State

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A new era? After two middling seasons, Mike Norvell may have finally turned a corner at the helm of the Seminoles program, which won 10 games for the first time since 2016 and comes into 2023 as a contender in the ACC title race, thanks in huge part to the return of quarterback Jordan Travis and edge rusher Jared Verse.

Defense: Florida State placed an emphasis on patching up some holes defensively in the transfer portal, landing a prize in Western Michigan lineman Braden Fiske, who had 12 sacks and 58 stops a year ago, and will provide a major push up front and help build the team's pass rushing capability further.

On the back end: Watch how corner Deuce Cypress fits in the Noles' secondary after coming over from Virginia. A top 10 player at his position, Cypress boasts elite perimeter speed, change of direction, and is also a quality run defender in short yardage situations. He broke up almost half the passes thrown his way last season as UVA's most-targeted coverage corner.

Big targets: Norvell found some quality tight ends in the portal this year, including 6-foot-7 Kyle Morlock from Division II school Shorter who had offers from Tennessee and LSU, among others. Jaheim Bell was a prize, coming over from South Carolina, and can create some mismatches in coverage.

Loser: Texas A&M

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Great expectations: After signing the No. 1 recruiting class in 2022, one that 247Sports called the greatest in modern history, the Aggies laid an egg, winning two SEC games and finishing 5-7 overall. In the aftermath, more than two dozen players entered the transfer portal. And 13 of those are from the school's 2021 and '22 recruiting efforts.

Quarterback Haynes King, running back LJ Johnson, wide receiver Chris Marshall, defensive backs Denver Harris, Smoke Bouie, and Marquis Groves-Killibrew, and defensive lineman Anthony Lucas are all gone.

Winner: Colorado

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Prime Time: Deion Sanders made the big coaching move of the college football offseason when he landed in the Pac-12 and, as expected, he brought some of his best "luggage" along with him.

That luggage? At the top of Colorado's transfer haul is cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter, the former No. 1 corner recruit and five-star who Prime plucked from FSU and took to Jackson State two offseasons ago. Sanders' son, Shedeur, is coming over to play quarterback after passing for almost 7,000 career yards and 70 touchdowns to give this offense a jolt.

Upgrades: Expect the Buffaloes' roster to look faster this season after adding receiver Jimmy Horn from USF, linebacker Vonta Bentley from Clemson, edge Taijh Alston from WVU, and former Western Michigan edge rusher Marshawn Kneeland, the latter two combining for 17 sacks in recent years.

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