2020 Transfer Portal Thread

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

17 hours ago, ellitor said:

@AuburnNTexas What Burk announcement?

This whole sentence is confusing. We do have 3 spots left. We could easily miss on 1 if not both Bro Jones & Frazier leaving room for both Princely & the Troy Punter should he transfer to AU. If we land Burks, Bro Jones, & Frazier then there won't be room for either one.

Just for clarification what I was trying to say if because of the way things go we get some of the ones we want but not all and we have one slot left and both Princely and the Troy punter want the scholly which would we choose? Basically which of the two is higher on our board a one year stop gap punter or a very good freshman D-Lineman.

[ellitor 33,082]

22 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

which would we choose? Basically which of the two is higher on our board a one year stop gap punter or a very good freshman D-Lineman.

No clue. Haven't seen any info on that 1 way or the other.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Crazy talented teams with poor kickers make a little more sense when your team finally starts pulling too many blue chip guys to have a schollies left for the specialists... perhaps...

[mustache eagle 2,397]

@mcgufcm my thoughts are the kids that are in this position are either superstars who many people will come after or just want to play and will do it anywhere, as long as they can get their education - with no illusions of the pros.

i like it because it gives the kids some level of control.

not to mention, all of these kids should call their high school coach and let them put the word out to schools he’s interested in.  Let the high school coach gauge some kind of possibilities on his behalf.  I’d Assume that is a “legal” work around.

[WarEagle2423 357]

South Alabama has 10 kids in the transfer portal. Disappointing. With the new stadium opening up, I wish they’d go a new direction with their head coaching duties. I have friends that played there (my alma mater, at AU now for grad school), and there’s just not a lot of love between the players and the coaching staff. They desperately need to make a change. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

20 hours ago, WarEagle2423 said:

South Alabama has 10 kids in the transfer portal. Disappointing. With the new stadium opening up, I wish they’d go a new direction with their head coaching duties. I have friends that played there (my alma mater, at AU now for grad school), and there’s just not a lot of love between the players and the coaching staff. They desperately need to make a change. 

See, that is a situation where the kids obviously need a way out. That's the rule working as intended. One kid leaves, it might be a player problem. 10 kids leave, you've got a coach problem. Sure, those kids assume some risk, but at least they have that choice. That is only upside.

A few kids even further out on the fringe of college football viability not getting scholarships isn't really a reason to keep those players locked into bad situations. I suppose that is a downside, but a "MAJOR" one ? That seems a stretch. I can see why a high school coach would frame it that way. Even a Rush Propst type of guy probably considers it a major deal if just one of his kids doesn't get a scholarship when he might have otherwise. And I can understand a college coach not liking the rule for a variety of reasons and looking for things to call downsides. I must admit to not talking to these guys, but I'm not buying that. Not as a significant factor.

[Cardin Drake 1,822]

On 1/28/2020 at 4:30 PM, mustache eagle said:

@mcgufcm my thoughts are the kids that are in this position are either superstars who many people will come after or just want to play and will do it anywhere, as long as they can get their education - with no illusions of the pros.

i like it because it gives the kids some level of control.

not to mention, all of these kids should call their high school coach and let them put the word out to schools he’s interested in.  Let the high school coach gauge some kind of possibilities on his behalf.  I’d Assume that is a “legal” work around.

So, are any of them offensive tackles?

[Paladin 3,305]

 

[Paladin 3,305]

Nice pickup for the Pirate

 

[Paladin 3,305]

 

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

Welp... All eyes on the portal for the next few months.

[Auskip 196]

On 1/27/2020 at 4:34 PM, mcgufcm said:

It was a bit back on this thread, but I'd like to point out, there is downside for the kids in the transfer portal. The downside shows up two places:  (1) with some kids attempting the transfer and (2) with fringe signees from high school.

So the first downside has to do with the way most coaches choose to manage their roster based on the realities of timing. If a kid puts his name in the transfer portal, most (but not all) coaches/programs will let him know his scholarship is being non-renewed the next semester. So if a kid wants to transfer before bowl season, he's going to lose his scholarship in January (from the transferor institution). If he waits to put his name in, he risks missing the start of class at the (potential) transferee school, which would prevent him from participating in spring ball.

Now, the downside risk comes in the fact that the schools cannot contact the kid until his name is in the portal. That means, the kid may or may not know if there is a spot available at his preferred school (or may not know where he wants to go at all). He enters a bit blind. Obviously, that's not a concern for Jalen Hurts, but it is for most kids. Some kids have already seen that they do not have opportunities (or available scholarships depending on how close a school is to the 85 limit) at the transferee school of their choice, BUT their current school has already non-renewed their scholarship. So they have to go down to Juco or take a D2 offer or something they never would have done if they had the option of going back to their current school. That's already happened to a few guys. That's a downside risk for the transfer player.

The second downside comes in the impact of multi-year transfers. If a kid has more than one year of eligibility, he counts against both the 85-man limit and the 25-signee limit for a given year. That's most guys in the portal. Because coaches are almost always short-sighted, they are looking for guys that can help right now. We've already seen coaches roll the dice on a fringe transfer instead of making the same reach for a HS kid, and the reason is, the transfer is almost always more likely to help the team sooner. They're in better shape. They already know how to exist in a college program. Etc. Because these transfer kids count against the 25, they reduce the size of the signing class. They took a spot at the transferor school in their original class; then, the same guy takes a second spot in the transferee school's class. That practice effectively reduces the number of HS signees overall.

So a guy that might've gotten a shot with Auburn ends up being a South Alabama signee because Auburn wanted Transfer X instead. And the kid at USA that would've been a fringe guy for them is left to go Juco or D2 or give up the game because USA is now signing the fringe Auburn guy. It just contracts the pool. Coaches have noticed this and flagged it as a MAJOR downside. There are proposed rule changes to give any team with a player transferring out an extra signing spot to replace that guy with a transfer in, but that has problem too (it encourages "processing" for one obvious one). Only time will tell how the schools deal with the contracting signing classes, but that's a real downside.

You raise a good point which coincidentally was discussed in an article in the Tampa Bay Times today. The article cited several local coaches who believe the portal has cost some of their kids scholarships due to the fact that so many schools are reserving a few spots for potential transfers.

The other issue discussed in the article is the fact that 57% of athletes in the portal haven’t found a new school yet. I don’t see how this is such a great situation for many of these kids.

[bigbird 60,491]

1 hour ago, Auskip said:

The other issue discussed in the article is the fact that 57% of athletes in the portal haven’t found a new school yet. I don’t see how this is such a great situation for many of these kids.

[mcgufcm 4,096]

And you saw Justin Fuente state publicly that any player putting his name in the portal is not welcome back at VT. All of them will lose their scholarship, but not all of them will find a new home. Certainly not a new home at that level, which is what they’re trying to do by entering the portal. 

[bigbird 60,491]

4 minutes ago, mcgufcm said:

And you saw Justin Fuente state publicly that any player putting his name in the portal is not welcome back at VT. All of them will lose their scholarship, but not all of them will find a new home. Certainly not a new home at that level, which is what they’re trying to do by entering the portal. 

A great move by him, IMO.

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

1 hour ago, mcgufcm said:

And you saw Justin Fuente state publicly that any player putting his name in the portal is not welcome back at VT. All of them will lose their scholarship, but not all of them will find a new home. Certainly not a new home at that level, which is what they’re trying to do by entering the portal. 

I'll say this though, it is a bit hypocritical for any coach to preach about loyalty when the system allows for them to pick up and move elsewhere at will. And I don't know the percentage, but countless kids go to a school because of the relationship a coach(es) have built with them since 9th or 10th grade, and yet the system does nothing to honor that bond.

That said, I'm biased because I, like the rest of the Auburn Family, love Auburn and I would hope our recruits feel the same way. But I'm beginning to see the imperfections of the collegiate athletics model...

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

Now that the recruiting class is complete how many spots do we have available for transfers? 

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 hours ago, mcgufcm said:

And you saw Justin Fuente state publicly that any player putting his name in the portal is not welcome back at VT. All of them will lose their scholarship, but not all of them will find a new home. Certainly not a new home at that level, which is what they’re trying to do by entering the portal. 

And that's great. His kids know the rules. Still, they have a little more control over their careers. This is only good.

[ellitor 33,082]

52 minutes ago, Auburn2Eugene said:

Now that the recruiting class is complete how many spots do we have available for transfers? 

It's not complete. Transfers count as part of the class & we have 1 spot left.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

4 hours ago, mcgufcm said:

And you saw Justin Fuente state publicly that any player putting his name in the portal is not welcome back at VT. All of them will lose their scholarship, but not all of them will find a new home. Certainly not a new home at that level, which is what they’re trying to do by entering the portal. 

I have no issue with this. I know some people make the argument about the coach having the ability to just pick up and move to another job, but I feel like it's Apples and Oranges. As much as it is turning into professional or semi-pro football...college football is still amateurism. These kids are given a full scholarship to play for that school. 

The way it is right now is like an online job market. Like Indeed.com. Kids can put their name in the portal....gauge interests ...and then back out if they don't get the attention they expected. I do not want to be anybody's plan B. Good for Coach JF. 

[rockfordpi 91]

12 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

I have no issue with this. I know some people make the argument about the coach having the ability to just pick up and move to another job, but I feel like it's Apples and Oranges. As much as it is turning into professional or semi-pro football...college football is still amateurism. These kids are given a full scholarship to play for that school. 

The way it is right now is like an online job market. Like Indeed.com. Kids can put their name in the portal....gauge interests ...and then back out if they don't get the attention they expected. I do not want to be anybody's plan B. Good for Coach JF. 

Everybody else can sell their services on the free and open market, but the players who do the grunt work are extremely limited by those who control the system and profit from their work.

To me it is almost criminal that a player loses his eligibility by simply making himself available to the draft. He becomes a pro simply by asking some pro team by means of the draft "how much will you pay me to play for you?" IMO, a player should not even have to disclose to his school that he is in the draft or has a lawyer/agent. Seems like that should be a privacy issue. Just another way schools use arcane rules to perpetuate a system from which they profit.

I have said here many times before, history does not bode well for those in control of systems where one group does all the hard work and another entity disproportionately profits from their work (see the robber barons and rise of labor unions, imperialism, and slavery).

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

21 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

These kids are given a full scholarship

Just a reminder that they aren't "given" anything. I don't need to post numbers about how many hours a week they're required to put in strictly for football, much less the physical toll the sport takes on them and other aspects of the experience that most people never consider.

It might seem like a small matter of semantics but it belies a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue. 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Just a reminder that they aren't "given" anything. I don't need to post numbers about how many hours a week they're required to put in strictly for football, much less the physical toll the sport takes on them and other aspects of the experience that most people never consider.

It might seem like a small matter of semantics but it belies a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue. 

Let me re-word. They are paid a scholarship for their efforts. Plus plenty more by way of tutors, meals, and things we do not know about.

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, Tigerpro2a said:

Let me re-word. They are paid a scholarship for their efforts. Plus plenty more by way of tutors, meals, and things we do not know about.

They are paid a scholarship for their efforts. Exactly. They earn the scholarship. That is where the obligation on both sides ends.

It is not apples and oranges. Coaches and schools break their promises to the players all the time. Hell, sometimes promises to a committed recruit are broken before they can even get to campus. It is patently hypocritical to hold the players to a higher standard. 

By the way, your indeed.com analogy... Did you not watch Tim Horton dip his toe in the water season after season, only to not get the attention he wanted and keep coming back? Do you think that was what our running back room deserved from their position coach (who, in this case, was far more than just a running backs coach within the overall offensive staff hierarchy)? Why should the players owe Auburn more allegiance than an actual paid employee? 

This makes no sense.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

10 hours ago, rockfordpi said:

Everybody else can sell their services on the free and open market, but the players who do the grunt work are extremely limited by those who control the system and profit from their work.

To me it is almost criminal that a player loses his eligibility by simply making himself available to the draft. He becomes a pro simply by asking some pro team by means of the draft "how much will you pay me to play for you?" IMO, a player should not even have to disclose to his school that he is in the draft or has a lawyer/agent. Seems like that should be a privacy issue. Just another way schools use arcane rules to perpetuate a system from which they profit.

I have said here many times before, history does not bode well for those in control of systems where one group does all the hard work and another entity disproportionately profits from their work (see the robber barons and rise of labor unions, imperialism, and slavery).

 

I completely understand where you are coming from...and I am all about free market. Whether or not the NCAA and College Athletics is a corrupt enterprise is a whole different animal. Do the players not enter freely into a contractual agreement with the school and NCAA to play for said school? 

I am aware you can argue that players are forced to play college ball because they cannot go directly into the draft from High School...well that again is a different conversation. Players still do not have to go to that school. They can take their chances on getting to the league on their own without playing on National TV every week for 3 years to get their film and name rec. They probably would hurt their chances dramatically.

I am not saying this model isn't jacked. It is, but the model is what it is as of now and as long as players enter freely into a contractual agreement with schools and the develish NCAA it is what it is. Should it be changed.....? ABSOLUTELY. Will it? Who knows.