I’m seeing way too many people freaking out, bashing coaches, and bashing student athletes for entering the transfer portal. Here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter how much you like or dislike Coach Satterfield, the reason these players are entering the transfer portal isn’t all because of coach and his staff.
The transfer portal is still kinda new to most of us and for the older crowd, entering the portal is a sign of not being loyal. Basically, it seems like free agency for amateur sports. The transfer portal was created as a compliance tool to systematically manage the transfer process from start to finish, add more transparency to the process among schools, and empower student athletes to make known their desire to consider other programs.
The bad part of entering is the current school can reduce or stop giving them athletics aid at the end of the term in which the request was made to enter the portal.
Previously in Division I, when student-athletes wanted to transfer, they had to ask their coach for permission to contact other schools. If the coach denied the request, student-athletes could then make their case to the athletics director. And if denied by athletic director, then there were still other avenues to request a transfer, but if not approved the student-athlete could not receive athletic aid at their new school. If you transferred to another D1 school, you had to sit out a year. Therefore, the chance of not having school paid for by transferring, coupled with sitting out a year, was enough of a deterrent to keep the amount of transfers to extreme cases.
Now, it seems like it’s just a free-for-all. Student-athletes transferring because they don’t want to sit on the bench and wait to get their chance, or maybe a coach yelled at a kid and hurt his feelings. And sometimes, it just wasn’t the right fit or maybe a kid gets homesick. No matter the reason, the transfer portal is now an easy way out.
It’s not really even fair to call the transfer portal “free agency” because, in the NFL, you must complete a contract before hitting the free agent market. Players have an obligation and a responsibility to stay with their team until the contract is expired.
In the new age of college football, a freshman can choose to transfer in the middle of his first season if he gets mad or feels he might not see the field. What is that teaching an 18-year-old kid? To run when things get tough… or that the grass is greener somewhere else? I don’t know, but I don’t like it and I wasn’t raised that way.
As the portal pertains to Louisville, I don’t see a problem. Most of you are freaking out and blaming Coach Satt. Is he the reason a few kids are leaving? I’m sure he is, but in the past, most of those kids would have just stuck it out for fear of losing financial aid or not wanting to sit out a year. However, the transfer portal entrants from Louisville are pretty much around the average for college football.
Since the end of the regular season, more than 1,450 FBS level football players have entered the portal, according to 247 sports. That number grows everyday. Just yesterday, Alabama had 7 players enter the portal. There are currently 129 FBS football teams so, if my math is correct, that would mean that the average number of players who enter the portal per team is 11.24.
Louisville has had 11 players enter the portal. So, the Louisville portal entrants is pretty average.
The 11 payers who have entered the portal are:
OFFENSE
- Hassan Hall
- Aidan Robbins
- Justin Marshall
- Jordan Watkins
- Demetrius Cannon
- Desmond Daniels
DEFENSE
- Nick Okeke
- Greedy Vance
- Kani Walker
- Zay Peterson
- Ja’Darien Boykin
However, the portal works both ways. While it’s easier for a kid to leave it’s also easier for coaches to see who is out there to fill their teams needs.
Here are the new players added to the current roster through the portal:
- Mohamed Sanogo (Ole Miss)
- Tiyon Evans (Tenn)
- Dee Wiggins (Miami)
- MJ Griffin (Temple)
* Coach Satterfield said he expects to add four or five more transfers.
In my opinion, this isn’t a Louisville problem. It’s a transfer portal problem. Are there some problems with Louisville football? Yes, but there are problems with the other 127 programs that can’t claim the title as national champions also.
You want players to honor their scholarship commitments? Change the transfer rules. If they can’t enter the NFL Draft until at least 3 years after high school, then make a rule that you can’t transfer until you honor at least 2 years of your 4-year commitment. And most definitely make a rule that says you can’t transfer during the season.
I’m all for helping the student-athletes, but it seems the rules have shifted to be very one-sided in favor of the student-athletes. So much so, it’s crippling some programs. There has to be a middle ground that benefits both.
Until then, I can’t blame the student athletes for trying to better themselves. It’s NOT a Louisville problem.
As Always, GO CARDS!
