SEC coaches double down on new transfer window in face of Ryan Day criticism

ATHENS — SEC football coaches are doubling down on their support for a revised NCAA portal window in the face of the recent criticism it drew from Ohio State coach Ryan Day.

Day, the head coach of the defending national champion Buckeyes, said he and other Big Ten coaches don’t think the NCAA’s proposed portal window — Jan. 2-12 — is a good idea.

The NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee approved a proposal for college football to have the single, 10-day transfer portal window earlier this month.

The proposal has been put before the NCAA Administrative Committee, which must approve it before Oct. 1 for the new portal window to take effect in 2026.

Most recently, there have been two portal windows, from Dec. 9-28 and April 16-25.

Day noted the difficulty that teams still playing in the College Football Playoff will have managing potential portal activity while preparing for postseason games.

Four of the 136 FBS programs will still be playing in this year’s 12-team College Football Playoff field when the proposed new portal window opens, should it be put into effect.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea at all, and the conversations we had with the Big Ten coaches, I think the majority of them agree,” Day said at his press availability in Columbus, Ohio, this week.

“I just don’t quite understand how teams that are playing in the playoffs are expected to make the decisions and sign their upcoming players while they’re still getting ready to play for games. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Georgia coach Kirby Smart voiced strong support of the proposed portal window but understands why Day feels challenged to manage his program at such a busy time.

“I know several Big Ten coaches that were, in favor of the portal changes, and support it, the same way the SEC did,” Smart said Wednesday, when asked about the new portal dates by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the league’s weekly coaches teleconference.

“So, I think the problem is people don’t understand all the issues, nobody, no coach wants to deal with the portal or the changing of your roster in a playing season,” said Smart, who completed a 15-0 season in 2022 by winning the College Football Playoff championship game over TCU after managing a transfer portal window that ranged from Dec. 5 to Jan. 2 that season.

“I think for Ryan’s defense, he went through that last year for the first time where it was a major, major issue of you’re dealing with things in the back of a playoff run.”

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables agrees with Smart and his SEC brethren on the single portal window, which the league coaches all agreed upon at the SEC Spring Meetings.

“The kids have made decisions anyway, (so) let’s get a window that makes sense for everybody to recruit, evaluate and still be able to get them into school,” Venables said.

“I think there’s an alignment, from that standpoint; you want to build your team, you know? You want to start building your team and start fresh as soon as the season is over and you start school for the semester.”

Venables explained the issue when a player leaves a team after spring drills.

“You have to start over, if that’s a player you plan on having on the field, playing meaningful snaps,” Venables said.

“You have to completely start over (after) you’ve spent several months investing and teaching and getting them ready.”

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said the earlier, longer NCAA portal window that was in play in December affected his football team.

“I don’t think you need these long (portal) windows, and especially when there’s a lot of games left to be played, like you would have with the bowl season and portal being through December,” DeBoer said.

“We didn’t have a ton of transfers, but there’s still enough where guys are either visiting campus. … There’s enough messaging out there, (and) it makes bowl season interesting for you team,” DeBoer said. “It probably affected us in some form or fashion, but I think it (January portal window) is good. … It’s a better solution than it was.”

Smart took note of the “messaging,” as well, aware that tampering has become more commonplace amid a new collegiate landscape where many players have agents and representatives shopping their services before the player has entered the portal.

“You think tampering is a problem? Put that portal in April and see what teams do in January, February, and March,” Smart said at the SEC Spring Meetings.

“Just think about it now because we’re getting ready to make a big decision, and a lot of people believe, ‘well, the kids won’t be able to leave if we put it in April, they’ll have to stay the next semester.’

“Oh no, they’ll be on your campus getting tampered with, collecting 33% of your cap before they leave with it. I’m not for that.”

LSU coach Brian Kelly said the new proposal dates are what’s best for college football, even if it does make things more difficult for the handful of teams still playing games.