MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – The hottest topic at SEC spring meetings this week isn’t the future of the College Football Playoff format, according to its most prominent football coach.
It’s not the looming NCAA v. House settlement, and what all happens once revenue sharing goes into effect.
It isn’t whether the SEC should move to nine conference games, a debate that has been raging for years at this annual event without resolution.
According to CBS Sports’ No. 1-ranked college football coach, the most important issue is the transfer portal window. And Kirby Smart’s frustration offers a window into why the SEC — and the other Power Four conferences — are so eager to take more control over the NCAA governance process, if not break off from the NCAA altogether, to pass common-sense transfer reform.
“The biggest decision that needs to be made in college football right now, by far, is when is the portal window and is it one or two,” Smart said. “That’s not being decided by us today. A lot of people don’t even know how it’s being decided and who is deciding it.”
SEC coaches like Smart want transfer portal eligibility reduced from two windows (winter and spring) to only one and to reduce the overall number of transfer portal days available. Currently the portal periods run from Dec. 9-28 and April 16-25. The December period is especially irksome to coaches that have to balance early signing period, the transfer portal and preparing their teams for postseason games.
Slow changes
There are mixed opinions on the dates and length for a singular portal window — more on that later — but it hasn’t happened yet despite widespread approval amongst Power Four coaches.
At the American Football Coaches Association meetings in January, the…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/kirby-smart-power-four-coaches-emphatically-calling-for-transfer-portal-reform-so-whats-holding-it-up/
Author : John Talty
Publish date : 2025-05-27 22:51:00
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