Mountain West football coaches sound off on transfer portal: ‘What are we teaching them?’

More than 4,000 Division I college football players entered the transfer portal during the 2021 academic year, according to the transfer portal dashboard the NCAA launched in May.

Of the FBS and FCS players who entered the portal, 48% (2,053) enrolled at a different school, 47% (2,031) remained in the portal and 5% (202) withdrew to stay at their original school or leave the sport.

Players have transferred for years, but in much smaller numbers than they do now. The transfer portal made its debut in 2018, and it got a lot more crowded after the NCAA announced in April 2021 that it would allow players to transfer one time without penalty. Prior to that, players had to sit out a year unless they won an appeal, were transferring to a lower classification or were graduate transfers.

Prominent players all across the country have taken the opportunity to go somewhere new, including quarterback Caleb Williams, who made headlines as a freshman at Oklahoma last season only to follow his head coach, Lincoln Riley, to USC. Almost half of the quarterbacks expected to win starting jobs around the country this season were once in the transfer portal, according to Sports Illustrated.

The Mountain West isn’t immune to the transfer craze. And its coaches, including Boise State’s Andy Avalos, have mixed feelings about it.

Of the conference’s 12 football-playing members, seven could have starting quarterbacks in 2022 who played elsewhere last year. Ten of the league’s teams will have QBs who began their careers elsewhere, including Fresno State’s Jake Haener, who was once at Washington, and Utah State’s Logan Bonner, who played at Arkansas State before leading the Aggies to their first Mountain West title last season.

Boise State’s Hank Bachmeier and Air Force’s Haaziq Daniels are the only starting quarterbacks in the conference still with the program they signed with out of high school.

Boise State has been active in searching the portal for additions at other positions. The Broncos added a pair of likely starters this year in offensive tackle Cade Beresford (Washington State) and edge rusher George Tarlas (Weber State). They’ve also added key contributors in recent years, such as cornerback Caleb Biggers (Bowling Green) and wide receiver Davis Koetter (Portland State).

Avalos said the transfer portal can be a benefit to teams, especially those that compete in the Group of Five and lower divisions. He also said more regulation is needed.

“Coaches all over the country will tell you it’s hard to run a spring practice if your roster was depleted a month or two before,” Avalos said. “It’s also tough to spend time developing a bond and a game plan for a player or a position and having to do it all over again a month later when someone transfers.”

The transfer portal was a popular topic at Mountain West media days in Las Vegas last week. The Idaho Statesman polled most of the coaches in attendance about current rules and the impact they have on college football.

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More than one coach compared the way the transfer portal is being used to free agency for professional athletes. But most coaches also said the portal is a double-edged sword.

“I don’t like it, but I like how it has worked out for us,” San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke said. The favorite to start at quarterback for the Aztecs this season is former Virginia Tech starter Braxton Burmeister.

The biggest problem with the transfer portal is the lack of an enforceable timetable, Mountain West coaches said. That’s why every coach polled was in favor of the transfer windows being considered by the NCAA.

The only deadline currently imposed is that players notify their school by May 1 of the academic year if they plan to transfer. The Division I Council is looking into a proposal that would create two windows for players to enter the portal: a 45-day window beginning in early November and a 15-day window beginning in mid-April.

The idea for transfer windows was first proposed by a committee of players, Wyoming coach Craig Bohl said.

“Players started looking around and saying, ‘This is football, not an individual sport like track and field,’” Bohl said. “If we’re trying to practice in spring and don’t have any linebackers because they all transferred, how are we all going to get better?”

Players speaking out about what they perceive as a problem is a good thing, Bohl said, but the portal could be even more packed in the coming years. In addition to transfer windows, the Division I Council is expected to vote Aug. 3 on a proposal that would allow players to transfer multiple times without penalty.

Many coaches are concerned about the message such a hands-off approach sends.

“Part of getting good at football is the daily struggle and going through the grind,” San Jose State coach Brent Brennan said. “Football players rarely show up freshman year and kick everybody’s butt. They have to work and earn it, and they’re usually better off for it. I think some of that development is stunted if you’re hopping from college to college.”

New Mexico head coach Danny Gonzalez said there are valid reasons for players to transfer, such as NCAA sanctions relating to infractions committed before the player was even on the roster. He also said allowing unlimited transfers would set a dangerous precedent.

“It creates opportunities for kids not to fight adversity,” Gonzalez said. “You used to have to stick it out and fight through it. Now kids transfer again and again on appeal, and what are we teaching them? We’re teaching them to run away whenever something happens that they don’t like.”

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Keeping it in the family

The transfer portal took on a different feel in the Mountain West this year after several players moved to other league teams.

Former Hawaii quarterback Chevan Cordeiro is in the running to start at San Jose State. A long list of players followed former Nevada coach Jay Norvell to Colorado State, including quarterback Clay Millen and wide receivers Melquan Stovall and Tory Horton.

In what may have been the most widely publicized move, Wyoming and Utah State swapped quarterbacks. Levi Williams, who started six games for the Cowboys last season, joined the Aggies’ roster and likely will back up Bonner this year. Andrew Peasley, who appeared in 10 games for the Aggies, has a chance to start at Wyoming.

The two teams will play in Laramie on Oct. 22.

Bohl said the whole thing gave him an uneasy feeling.

“At one time, that was unheard of, but there’s a new sheriff in town,” he said. “It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, but even an old-school coach like me has to realize it’s not personal, and you just have to move on and get ready to play.”

The Mountain West once had a rule prohibiting transfers within the conference, but that was undone by the NCAA’s decision to allow players to transfer without penalty, according to a league spokesperson.

Players transferring to another Mountain West team is something most coaches said they are not fond of, but like name, image and likeness, conference realignment and disagreements over the size of College Football Playoff, it’s part of an ever-changing landscape.

“I was never in favor of allowing transfers in the conference back when I was in the Sun Belt,” Utah State head coach Blake Anderson said. “That’s an intimate relationship, especially with a quarterback. You’re with them every day, and having them on the other sideline can be uncomfortable, but it’s also the world we’re living in.”