2023-24 Portal Szn
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Yeah, a lot are tampering. But really not many have ever had the player admit it out loud.
If he didn’t say it, Cockeye would have never self reported it.
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And the NCAA is after all noted to consistent enforcement
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148 qbs and counting:
theathletic.com
In last year’s offseason transfer portal cycle, 136 FBS scholarship quarterbacks transferred to other Division I schools. The year before, the total was 130.
This year? It’s the wildest quarterback transfer cycle we’ve seen, both in quality and in quantity. By the end of January, 148 scholarship passers had hit the portal, and the decisions each one made had far-reaching consequences.
North Carolina kicked off this cycle by choosing Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson over Texas Tech’s Tyler Shough. Johnson announced his new home on Nov. 29, and Louisville quickly picked up Shough. Both players left programs that had promising young QBs returning in 2024, making their moves relatively harmless. These days, though, it’s rarely that simple.
When 43 Power 5 programs (and counting) bring in transfer quarterbacks at the same time, many more QBs end up feeling the impact. The backups realize it’s time to leave. The committed recruits rethink their plans. The schools that lose their starter need to go find their next one.
Attempting to track all of these transactions and the domino effect they set off across college football can leave one feeling a lot like Charlie Kelly down in the mailroom, so we went to the trouble for you. Here’s a closer look at this year’s crop of transfer quarterbacks and the tangled webs they’re weaving.
(Getty Images; USA Today)
Notre Dame was expected to take Kansas State transfer Will Howard at the start of this cycle. But the Irish chose to prioritize Duke’s Riley Leonard and locked him in right after he entered the portal. That began a winding recruitment for Howard, a 27-game starter for the Wildcats.
Howard visited Lincoln Riley and USC and looked like he might become the successor to potential No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. The Trojans’ pursuit of transfers led to five-star freshman Malachi Nelson entering the portal and deciding to start over at Boise State, which needed a QB after losing Taylen Green to Arkansas. The Razorbacks took Green knowing KJ Jefferson would either go pro or transfer. The sixth-year senior decided to finish his career at UCF.
Howard then visited Miami right before the Hurricanes hosted coveted Washington State transfer Cameron Ward on a visit. And then Howard’s recruitment went quiet for a little while.
Ohio State lost starter Kyle McCord at the beginning of this portal cycle, and its coaches were noncommittal about taking a portal QB. After losing to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl with backups Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz, they moved forward with bringing in Howard.
Meanwhile, Miami focused on Ward and emerged as the favorite ahead of rival Florida State. But then Ward announced on Jan. 1 he would enter the NFL Draft. With their No. 1 target off the board, Florida State brought Oregon State transfer DJ Uiagalelei back to the ACC and Miami took a commitment from an FCS transfer, Albany’s Reese Poffenbarger. After losing their two-year starter, the Great Danes picked up Wisconsin transfer Myles Burkett.
After two weeks of training for the draft, Ward surprised everybody — including Miami’s coaching staff — by changing his mind and finally committing to the Hurricanes.
Washington State ended up landing another FCS transfer, Bryant’s Zevi Eckhaus, to replace him. Eckhaus had been committed to Jacksonville State, so coach Rich Rodriguez replaced Eckhaus with UConn transfer Zion Turner.
USC seemed to back off on Howard after a strong performance by Miller Moss in its Holiday Bowl win but did end up taking UNLV’s Jayden Maiava, this year’s Mountain West Freshman of the Year, who initially committed to Georgia before quickly changing his mind. After losing its starting QB late in the cycle, UNLV signed Holy Cross transfer Matthew Sluka.
(Getty Images)
Washington coach Kalen DeBoer needed a successor to Heisman finalist Michael Penix Jr. and chose Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers, the SEC’s career leader in passing attempts and completions. New Bulldogs coach Jeff Lebby brought in Baylor’s Blake Shapen, a veteran starter who had won a Big 12 title game for the Bears in 2021. Baylor landed Toledo’s Dequan Finn, the MAC Player of the Year. Simple enough, right?
Well, Washington bringing in Rogers meant it was time for Dylan Morris to move on. Morris, a two-year starter before Penix showed up, transferred to James Madison to replace outgoing transfer Jordan McCloud. JMU had just lost coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana. Cignetti went with Ohio’s Kurtis Rourke as the transfer to build around for Year 1 after the Hoosiers lost Brendan Sorsby to Cincinnati.
And then on Jan. 12, Washington’s plans blew up. DeBoer took the Alabama job. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb went with him. Rogers put his name back in the portal. Washington’s promising freshman Austin Mack followed his coaches to Alabama to join a group that had already lost backup Eli Holstein to Pitt. Arizona coach Jedd Fisch took the Washington job and could not convince his star quarterback Noah Fifita to join him in Seattle but did get Rogers and freshman Dermaricus Davis to stay and brought in Arizona early enrollee Demond Williams Jr. to help make up for the loss of Mack.
Meanwhile, Mack’s transfer to Alabama led five-star signee Julian Sayin to put his name in the portal and join Ohio State. He enters a crowded room of five highly touted QBs. It’s tough to keep five these days. Ryan Day took Sayin with the understanding there’s a decent chance the Buckeyes will lose one or more QBs to the portal in April.
(Getty Images)
Oregon has a ton of talent coming back for 2024 and was eager to land a big-time transfer to succeed Heisman finalist Bo Nix. The Ducks had interest in Howard, Ward and all the big names but quickly locked in on Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel as their No. 1 target. The recruitment of the sixth-year senior and All-Big 12 performer moved quickly, and Gabriel picked the Ducks within a week of entering the portal.
Landing Gabriel meant losing backup Ty Thompson, a former top-100 recruit. He’s heading to Tulane. But the Ducks weren’t done. UCLA freshman Dante Moore entered the portal on the same day as Gabriel. The ex-Oregon commit was seeking a fresh start and wanted to join the Ducks even if it meant backing up Gabriel for a year. For Oregon, this cycle couldn’t have played out any better.
Oklahoma is moving forward with five-star freshman Jackson Arnold as its QB1 but also lost backup Davis Beville to South Carolina. The Sooners opted to bring in Florida Atlantic transfer Casey Thompson, a former starter at Texas and Nebraska, as a veteran backup. He re-entered the portal after the Owls landed Marshall transfer Cam Fancher. Marshall brought in two QBs this offseason, Wake Forest’s Mitch Griffis and Tulsa’s Braylon Braxton, to compete for the job. Wake Forest went with Louisiana Tech’s Hank Bachmeier. Louisiana Tech signed Ty Keyes, a junior college All-American who’d previously started at Southern Miss.
And as for UCLA? Chip Kelly gave the scholarship freed up by Moore’s departure to Henry Hasselbeck, a three-star recruit from Massachusetts. The son of former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was previously committed to Michigan State but backed out in December after the Spartans’ coaching change.
(Getty Images; Gutridge courtesy of Oregon State; Milivojevic and Jessee courtesy of Michigan State Athletics)
Michigan State relied on three quarterbacks to get through its tumultuous 2023 season. All three entered the portal at the end of the season.
Noah Kim, the Spartans’ Week 1 starter, went to Coastal Carolina to help replace three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year Grayson McCall. McCall went to NC State after the Wolfpack lost MJ Morris to Maryland. Katin Houser started seven games at Michigan State and then moved on to East Carolina, where he’ll have to compete with Missouri transfer Jake Garcia. Michigan State’s third-string quarterback Sam Leavitt, a freshman, also transferred out and ended up at Arizona State. His arrival led to Sun Devils backup Jacob Conover, a former BYU transfer, re-entering the portal.
New Spartans coach Jonathan Smith and his staff had plenty of work to do when they arrived in East Lansing. But they knew who they wanted to build around. Aidan Chiles showed big potential during his freshman season at Oregon State and opted to follow his coaches to Michigan State.
The Spartans also brought in one of the top FCS QBs in the portal in North Dakota’s Tommy Schuster, flipped three-star recruit Alessio Milivojevic away from Ball State and also flipped three-star Ryland Jessee away from Utah State to fill out their QB depth chart. Both programs that lost their QB recruits have transfers on the way: Utah State added Spencer Petras (Cockeye) and Bryson Barnes (Utah), and Ball State landed Chase Harrison (Marshall).
Uiagalelei and Chiles leaving Oregon State triggered more transfers. Florida State’s pursuit of Uiagalelei led to Seminoles backup Tate Rodemaker leaving for Southern Miss and AJ Duffy going to San Diego State. Florida State’s staff responded by convincing four-star recruit Trever Jackson to walk on and join their 2024 signing class.
After Chiles chose the Spartans, Oregon State’s new coaching staff looked to the portal and landed Idaho transfer Gevani McCoy, the 2022 Jerry Rice Award winner as the top freshman in the FCS, as well as Missouri freshman transfer Gabarri Johnson and in-state recruit Kallen Gutridge.
Georgia could’ve been a major player in the transfer market if Carson Beck had decided to enter the NFL Draft. For several weeks, there was uncertainty around his status. Beck’s decision to return to Georgia for 2024 inevitably meant backup Brock Vandagriff would pursue a starting job elsewhere, and he chose Kentucky. The arrival of Vandagriff led to two Kentucky backups transferring out: Destin Wade went to Colorado, and Deuce Hogan went to New Mexico State.
But then Georgia lost another potential successor to Beck in Dylan Raiola. The five-star recruit had a change of heart before signing day and took a late official visit to Nebraska. The Huskers were moving on from Jeff Sims and had evaluated several transfer QBs. They brought in McCord for a visit. But once Raiola was back in play, they backed off on McCord. And when Raiola signed, they lost another QB with Chubba Purdy transferring to Nevada.
Georgia pursued Maiava, who briefly committed before flipping to USC, but still hasn’t taken a transfer quarterback in this cycle. Between Gunner Stockton and incoming freshman Ryan Puglisi, it’s possible the Bulldogs’ next great QB is already in the program. Or maybe they’ll be contending for the elite arms who hit the portal in December.
At Texas, Quinn Ewers’ decision to stay in school predictably resulted in Maalik Murphy entering the transfer portal. Murphy was a late entry who had limited Power 5 options once he did become available. Baylor took Finn after Wisconsin went with Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke over him. South Carolina was another rumored contender after missing on Vanderbilt transfer AJ Swann, who chose LSU, but the Gamecocks eventually signed Auburn’s Robby Ashford along with Beville. Oregon State found its transfer duo in McCoy and Johnson. And then there was Duke.
Murphy became the gem of new head coach Manny Diaz’s first recruiting class. The redshirt freshman transfer needs to keep developing but could prove to be a real difference maker. And why was Diaz in the market? Because Notre Dame took Duke’s starting QB.
Untangling college football's web of offseason transfer QB movement
When you have 43 Power 5 programs (and counting) bringing in new transfer quarterbacks at once, many more QBs end up feeling the impact.
theathletic.com
In college football’s wildest QB transfer carousel ever, USC is just steps from Holy Cross
Max OlsonIn last year’s offseason transfer portal cycle, 136 FBS scholarship quarterbacks transferred to other Division I schools. The year before, the total was 130.
This year? It’s the wildest quarterback transfer cycle we’ve seen, both in quality and in quantity. By the end of January, 148 scholarship passers had hit the portal, and the decisions each one made had far-reaching consequences.
North Carolina kicked off this cycle by choosing Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson over Texas Tech’s Tyler Shough. Johnson announced his new home on Nov. 29, and Louisville quickly picked up Shough. Both players left programs that had promising young QBs returning in 2024, making their moves relatively harmless. These days, though, it’s rarely that simple.
When 43 Power 5 programs (and counting) bring in transfer quarterbacks at the same time, many more QBs end up feeling the impact. The backups realize it’s time to leave. The committed recruits rethink their plans. The schools that lose their starter need to go find their next one.
Attempting to track all of these transactions and the domino effect they set off across college football can leave one feeling a lot like Charlie Kelly down in the mailroom, so we went to the trouble for you. Here’s a closer look at this year’s crop of transfer quarterbacks and the tangled webs they’re weaving.
The valuable veterans
(Getty Images; USA Today)
Notre Dame was expected to take Kansas State transfer Will Howard at the start of this cycle. But the Irish chose to prioritize Duke’s Riley Leonard and locked him in right after he entered the portal. That began a winding recruitment for Howard, a 27-game starter for the Wildcats.
Howard visited Lincoln Riley and USC and looked like he might become the successor to potential No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. The Trojans’ pursuit of transfers led to five-star freshman Malachi Nelson entering the portal and deciding to start over at Boise State, which needed a QB after losing Taylen Green to Arkansas. The Razorbacks took Green knowing KJ Jefferson would either go pro or transfer. The sixth-year senior decided to finish his career at UCF.
Howard then visited Miami right before the Hurricanes hosted coveted Washington State transfer Cameron Ward on a visit. And then Howard’s recruitment went quiet for a little while.
Ohio State lost starter Kyle McCord at the beginning of this portal cycle, and its coaches were noncommittal about taking a portal QB. After losing to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl with backups Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz, they moved forward with bringing in Howard.
Meanwhile, Miami focused on Ward and emerged as the favorite ahead of rival Florida State. But then Ward announced on Jan. 1 he would enter the NFL Draft. With their No. 1 target off the board, Florida State brought Oregon State transfer DJ Uiagalelei back to the ACC and Miami took a commitment from an FCS transfer, Albany’s Reese Poffenbarger. After losing their two-year starter, the Great Danes picked up Wisconsin transfer Myles Burkett.
After two weeks of training for the draft, Ward surprised everybody — including Miami’s coaching staff — by changing his mind and finally committing to the Hurricanes.
Washington State ended up landing another FCS transfer, Bryant’s Zevi Eckhaus, to replace him. Eckhaus had been committed to Jacksonville State, so coach Rich Rodriguez replaced Eckhaus with UConn transfer Zion Turner.
USC seemed to back off on Howard after a strong performance by Miller Moss in its Holiday Bowl win but did end up taking UNLV’s Jayden Maiava, this year’s Mountain West Freshman of the Year, who initially committed to Georgia before quickly changing his mind. After losing its starting QB late in the cycle, UNLV signed Holy Cross transfer Matthew Sluka.
The runner-up’s reset
(Getty Images)
Washington coach Kalen DeBoer needed a successor to Heisman finalist Michael Penix Jr. and chose Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers, the SEC’s career leader in passing attempts and completions. New Bulldogs coach Jeff Lebby brought in Baylor’s Blake Shapen, a veteran starter who had won a Big 12 title game for the Bears in 2021. Baylor landed Toledo’s Dequan Finn, the MAC Player of the Year. Simple enough, right?
Well, Washington bringing in Rogers meant it was time for Dylan Morris to move on. Morris, a two-year starter before Penix showed up, transferred to James Madison to replace outgoing transfer Jordan McCloud. JMU had just lost coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana. Cignetti went with Ohio’s Kurtis Rourke as the transfer to build around for Year 1 after the Hoosiers lost Brendan Sorsby to Cincinnati.
And then on Jan. 12, Washington’s plans blew up. DeBoer took the Alabama job. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb went with him. Rogers put his name back in the portal. Washington’s promising freshman Austin Mack followed his coaches to Alabama to join a group that had already lost backup Eli Holstein to Pitt. Arizona coach Jedd Fisch took the Washington job and could not convince his star quarterback Noah Fifita to join him in Seattle but did get Rogers and freshman Dermaricus Davis to stay and brought in Arizona early enrollee Demond Williams Jr. to help make up for the loss of Mack.
Meanwhile, Mack’s transfer to Alabama led five-star signee Julian Sayin to put his name in the portal and join Ohio State. He enters a crowded room of five highly touted QBs. It’s tough to keep five these days. Ryan Day took Sayin with the understanding there’s a decent chance the Buckeyes will lose one or more QBs to the portal in April.
The Ducks’ double-dip
(Getty Images)
Oregon has a ton of talent coming back for 2024 and was eager to land a big-time transfer to succeed Heisman finalist Bo Nix. The Ducks had interest in Howard, Ward and all the big names but quickly locked in on Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel as their No. 1 target. The recruitment of the sixth-year senior and All-Big 12 performer moved quickly, and Gabriel picked the Ducks within a week of entering the portal.
Landing Gabriel meant losing backup Ty Thompson, a former top-100 recruit. He’s heading to Tulane. But the Ducks weren’t done. UCLA freshman Dante Moore entered the portal on the same day as Gabriel. The ex-Oregon commit was seeking a fresh start and wanted to join the Ducks even if it meant backing up Gabriel for a year. For Oregon, this cycle couldn’t have played out any better.
Oklahoma is moving forward with five-star freshman Jackson Arnold as its QB1 but also lost backup Davis Beville to South Carolina. The Sooners opted to bring in Florida Atlantic transfer Casey Thompson, a former starter at Texas and Nebraska, as a veteran backup. He re-entered the portal after the Owls landed Marshall transfer Cam Fancher. Marshall brought in two QBs this offseason, Wake Forest’s Mitch Griffis and Tulsa’s Braylon Braxton, to compete for the job. Wake Forest went with Louisiana Tech’s Hank Bachmeier. Louisiana Tech signed Ty Keyes, a junior college All-American who’d previously started at Southern Miss.
And as for UCLA? Chip Kelly gave the scholarship freed up by Moore’s departure to Henry Hasselbeck, a three-star recruit from Massachusetts. The son of former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was previously committed to Michigan State but backed out in December after the Spartans’ coaching change.
The East Lansing exodus
(Getty Images; Gutridge courtesy of Oregon State; Milivojevic and Jessee courtesy of Michigan State Athletics)
Michigan State relied on three quarterbacks to get through its tumultuous 2023 season. All three entered the portal at the end of the season.
Noah Kim, the Spartans’ Week 1 starter, went to Coastal Carolina to help replace three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year Grayson McCall. McCall went to NC State after the Wolfpack lost MJ Morris to Maryland. Katin Houser started seven games at Michigan State and then moved on to East Carolina, where he’ll have to compete with Missouri transfer Jake Garcia. Michigan State’s third-string quarterback Sam Leavitt, a freshman, also transferred out and ended up at Arizona State. His arrival led to Sun Devils backup Jacob Conover, a former BYU transfer, re-entering the portal.
New Spartans coach Jonathan Smith and his staff had plenty of work to do when they arrived in East Lansing. But they knew who they wanted to build around. Aidan Chiles showed big potential during his freshman season at Oregon State and opted to follow his coaches to Michigan State.
The Spartans also brought in one of the top FCS QBs in the portal in North Dakota’s Tommy Schuster, flipped three-star recruit Alessio Milivojevic away from Ball State and also flipped three-star Ryland Jessee away from Utah State to fill out their QB depth chart. Both programs that lost their QB recruits have transfers on the way: Utah State added Spencer Petras (Cockeye) and Bryson Barnes (Utah), and Ball State landed Chase Harrison (Marshall).
Uiagalelei and Chiles leaving Oregon State triggered more transfers. Florida State’s pursuit of Uiagalelei led to Seminoles backup Tate Rodemaker leaving for Southern Miss and AJ Duffy going to San Diego State. Florida State’s staff responded by convincing four-star recruit Trever Jackson to walk on and join their 2024 signing class.
After Chiles chose the Spartans, Oregon State’s new coaching staff looked to the portal and landed Idaho transfer Gevani McCoy, the 2022 Jerry Rice Award winner as the top freshman in the FCS, as well as Missouri freshman transfer Gabarri Johnson and in-state recruit Kallen Gutridge.
The draft decisions
Sometimes it’s the moves that don’t happen that set off a string of transfers.Georgia could’ve been a major player in the transfer market if Carson Beck had decided to enter the NFL Draft. For several weeks, there was uncertainty around his status. Beck’s decision to return to Georgia for 2024 inevitably meant backup Brock Vandagriff would pursue a starting job elsewhere, and he chose Kentucky. The arrival of Vandagriff led to two Kentucky backups transferring out: Destin Wade went to Colorado, and Deuce Hogan went to New Mexico State.
But then Georgia lost another potential successor to Beck in Dylan Raiola. The five-star recruit had a change of heart before signing day and took a late official visit to Nebraska. The Huskers were moving on from Jeff Sims and had evaluated several transfer QBs. They brought in McCord for a visit. But once Raiola was back in play, they backed off on McCord. And when Raiola signed, they lost another QB with Chubba Purdy transferring to Nevada.
Georgia pursued Maiava, who briefly committed before flipping to USC, but still hasn’t taken a transfer quarterback in this cycle. Between Gunner Stockton and incoming freshman Ryan Puglisi, it’s possible the Bulldogs’ next great QB is already in the program. Or maybe they’ll be contending for the elite arms who hit the portal in December.
At Texas, Quinn Ewers’ decision to stay in school predictably resulted in Maalik Murphy entering the transfer portal. Murphy was a late entry who had limited Power 5 options once he did become available. Baylor took Finn after Wisconsin went with Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke over him. South Carolina was another rumored contender after missing on Vanderbilt transfer AJ Swann, who chose LSU, but the Gamecocks eventually signed Auburn’s Robby Ashford along with Beville. Oregon State found its transfer duo in McCoy and Johnson. And then there was Duke.
Murphy became the gem of new head coach Manny Diaz’s first recruiting class. The redshirt freshman transfer needs to keep developing but could prove to be a real difference maker. And why was Diaz in the market? Because Notre Dame took Duke’s starting QB.
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My two thoughts are:148 qbs and counting:
Untangling college football's web of offseason transfer QB movement
When you have 43 Power 5 programs (and counting) bringing in new transfer quarterbacks at once, many more QBs end up feeling the impact.
In college football’s wildest QB transfer carousel ever, USC is just steps from Holy Cross
Max Olson
In last year’s offseason transfer portal cycle, 136 FBS scholarship quarterbacks transferred to other Division I schools. The year before, the total was 130.
This year? It’s the wildest quarterback transfer cycle we’ve seen, both in quality and in quantity. By the end of January, 148 scholarship passers had hit the portal, and the decisions each one made had far-reaching consequences.
North Carolina kicked off this cycle by choosing Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson over Texas Tech’s Tyler Shough. Johnson announced his new home on Nov. 29, and Louisville quickly picked up Shough. Both players left programs that had promising young QBs returning in 2024, making their moves relatively harmless. These days, though, it’s rarely that simple.
When 43 Power 5 programs (and counting) bring in transfer quarterbacks at the same time, many more QBs end up feeling the impact. The backups realize it’s time to leave. The committed recruits rethink their plans. The schools that lose their starter need to go find their next one.
Attempting to track all of these transactions and the domino effect they set off across college football can leave one feeling a lot like Charlie Kelly down in the mailroom, so we went to the trouble for you. Here’s a closer look at this year’s crop of transfer quarterbacks and the tangled webs they’re weaving.
The valuable veterans
(Getty Images; USA Today)
Notre Dame was expected to take Kansas State transfer Will Howard at the start of this cycle. But the Irish chose to prioritize Duke’s Riley Leonard and locked him in right after he entered the portal. That began a winding recruitment for Howard, a 27-game starter for the Wildcats.
Howard visited Lincoln Riley and USC and looked like he might become the successor to potential No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. The Trojans’ pursuit of transfers led to five-star freshman Malachi Nelson entering the portal and deciding to start over at Boise State, which needed a QB after losing Taylen Green to Arkansas. The Razorbacks took Green knowing KJ Jefferson would either go pro or transfer. The sixth-year senior decided to finish his career at UCF.
Howard then visited Miami right before the Hurricanes hosted coveted Washington State transfer Cameron Ward on a visit. And then Howard’s recruitment went quiet for a little while.
Ohio State lost starter Kyle McCord at the beginning of this portal cycle, and its coaches were noncommittal about taking a portal QB. After losing to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl with backups Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz, they moved forward with bringing in Howard.
Meanwhile, Miami focused on Ward and emerged as the favorite ahead of rival Florida State. But then Ward announced on Jan. 1 he would enter the NFL Draft. With their No. 1 target off the board, Florida State brought Oregon State transfer DJ Uiagalelei back to the ACC and Miami took a commitment from an FCS transfer, Albany’s Reese Poffenbarger. After losing their two-year starter, the Great Danes picked up Wisconsin transfer Myles Burkett.
After two weeks of training for the draft, Ward surprised everybody — including Miami’s coaching staff — by changing his mind and finally committing to the Hurricanes.
Washington State ended up landing another FCS transfer, Bryant’s Zevi Eckhaus, to replace him. Eckhaus had been committed to Jacksonville State, so coach Rich Rodriguez replaced Eckhaus with UConn transfer Zion Turner.
USC seemed to back off on Howard after a strong performance by Miller Moss in its Holiday Bowl win but did end up taking UNLV’s Jayden Maiava, this year’s Mountain West Freshman of the Year, who initially committed to Georgia before quickly changing his mind. After losing its starting QB late in the cycle, UNLV signed Holy Cross transfer Matthew Sluka.
The runner-up’s reset
(Getty Images)
Washington coach Kalen DeBoer needed a successor to Heisman finalist Michael Penix Jr. and chose Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers, the SEC’s career leader in passing attempts and completions. New Bulldogs coach Jeff Lebby brought in Baylor’s Blake Shapen, a veteran starter who had won a Big 12 title game for the Bears in 2021. Baylor landed Toledo’s Dequan Finn, the MAC Player of the Year. Simple enough, right?
Well, Washington bringing in Rogers meant it was time for Dylan Morris to move on. Morris, a two-year starter before Penix showed up, transferred to James Madison to replace outgoing transfer Jordan McCloud. JMU had just lost coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana. Cignetti went with Ohio’s Kurtis Rourke as the transfer to build around for Year 1 after the Hoosiers lost Brendan Sorsby to Cincinnati.
And then on Jan. 12, Washington’s plans blew up. DeBoer took the Alabama job. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb went with him. Rogers put his name back in the portal. Washington’s promising freshman Austin Mack followed his coaches to Alabama to join a group that had already lost backup Eli Holstein to Pitt. Arizona coach Jedd Fisch took the Washington job and could not convince his star quarterback Noah Fifita to join him in Seattle but did get Rogers and freshman Dermaricus Davis to stay and brought in Arizona early enrollee Demond Williams Jr. to help make up for the loss of Mack.
Meanwhile, Mack’s transfer to Alabama led five-star signee Julian Sayin to put his name in the portal and join Ohio State. He enters a crowded room of five highly touted QBs. It’s tough to keep five these days. Ryan Day took Sayin with the understanding there’s a decent chance the Buckeyes will lose one or more QBs to the portal in April.
The Ducks’ double-dip
(Getty Images)
Oregon has a ton of talent coming back for 2024 and was eager to land a big-time transfer to succeed Heisman finalist Bo Nix. The Ducks had interest in Howard, Ward and all the big names but quickly locked in on Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel as their No. 1 target. The recruitment of the sixth-year senior and All-Big 12 performer moved quickly, and Gabriel picked the Ducks within a week of entering the portal.
Landing Gabriel meant losing backup Ty Thompson, a former top-100 recruit. He’s heading to Tulane. But the Ducks weren’t done. UCLA freshman Dante Moore entered the portal on the same day as Gabriel. The ex-Oregon commit was seeking a fresh start and wanted to join the Ducks even if it meant backing up Gabriel for a year. For Oregon, this cycle couldn’t have played out any better.
Oklahoma is moving forward with five-star freshman Jackson Arnold as its QB1 but also lost backup Davis Beville to South Carolina. The Sooners opted to bring in Florida Atlantic transfer Casey Thompson, a former starter at Texas and Nebraska, as a veteran backup. He re-entered the portal after the Owls landed Marshall transfer Cam Fancher. Marshall brought in two QBs this offseason, Wake Forest’s Mitch Griffis and Tulsa’s Braylon Braxton, to compete for the job. Wake Forest went with Louisiana Tech’s Hank Bachmeier. Louisiana Tech signed Ty Keyes, a junior college All-American who’d previously started at Southern Miss.
And as for UCLA? Chip Kelly gave the scholarship freed up by Moore’s departure to Henry Hasselbeck, a three-star recruit from Massachusetts. The son of former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was previously committed to Michigan State but backed out in December after the Spartans’ coaching change.
The East Lansing exodus
(Getty Images; Gutridge courtesy of Oregon State; Milivojevic and Jessee courtesy of Michigan State Athletics)
Michigan State relied on three quarterbacks to get through its tumultuous 2023 season. All three entered the portal at the end of the season.
Noah Kim, the Spartans’ Week 1 starter, went to Coastal Carolina to help replace three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year Grayson McCall. McCall went to NC State after the Wolfpack lost MJ Morris to Maryland. Katin Houser started seven games at Michigan State and then moved on to East Carolina, where he’ll have to compete with Missouri transfer Jake Garcia. Michigan State’s third-string quarterback Sam Leavitt, a freshman, also transferred out and ended up at Arizona State. His arrival led to Sun Devils backup Jacob Conover, a former BYU transfer, re-entering the portal.
New Spartans coach Jonathan Smith and his staff had plenty of work to do when they arrived in East Lansing. But they knew who they wanted to build around. Aidan Chiles showed big potential during his freshman season at Oregon State and opted to follow his coaches to Michigan State.
The Spartans also brought in one of the top FCS QBs in the portal in North Dakota’s Tommy Schuster, flipped three-star recruit Alessio Milivojevic away from Ball State and also flipped three-star Ryland Jessee away from Utah State to fill out their QB depth chart. Both programs that lost their QB recruits have transfers on the way: Utah State added Spencer Petras (Cockeye) and Bryson Barnes (Utah), and Ball State landed Chase Harrison (Marshall).
Uiagalelei and Chiles leaving Oregon State triggered more transfers. Florida State’s pursuit of Uiagalelei led to Seminoles backup Tate Rodemaker leaving for Southern Miss and AJ Duffy going to San Diego State. Florida State’s staff responded by convincing four-star recruit Trever Jackson to walk on and join their 2024 signing class.
After Chiles chose the Spartans, Oregon State’s new coaching staff looked to the portal and landed Idaho transfer Gevani McCoy, the 2022 Jerry Rice Award winner as the top freshman in the FCS, as well as Missouri freshman transfer Gabarri Johnson and in-state recruit Kallen Gutridge.
The draft decisions
Sometimes it’s the moves that don’t happen that set off a string of transfers.
Georgia could’ve been a major player in the transfer market if Carson Beck had decided to enter the NFL Draft. For several weeks, there was uncertainty around his status. Beck’s decision to return to Georgia for 2024 inevitably meant backup Brock Vandagriff would pursue a starting job elsewhere, and he chose Kentucky. The arrival of Vandagriff led to two Kentucky backups transferring out: Destin Wade went to Colorado, and Deuce Hogan went to New Mexico State.
But then Georgia lost another potential successor to Beck in Dylan Raiola. The five-star recruit had a change of heart before signing day and took a late official visit to Nebraska. The Huskers were moving on from Jeff Sims and had evaluated several transfer QBs. They brought in McCord for a visit. But once Raiola was back in play, they backed off on McCord. And when Raiola signed, they lost another QB with Chubba Purdy transferring to Nevada.
Georgia pursued Maiava, who briefly committed before flipping to USC, but still hasn’t taken a transfer quarterback in this cycle. Between Gunner Stockton and incoming freshman Ryan Puglisi, it’s possible the Bulldogs’ next great QB is already in the program. Or maybe they’ll be contending for the elite arms who hit the portal in December.
At Texas, Quinn Ewers’ decision to stay in school predictably resulted in Maalik Murphy entering the transfer portal. Murphy was a late entry who had limited Power 5 options once he did become available. Baylor took Finn after Wisconsin went with Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke over him. South Carolina was another rumored contender after missing on Vanderbilt transfer AJ Swann, who chose LSU, but the Gamecocks eventually signed Auburn’s Robby Ashford along with Beville. Oregon State found its transfer duo in McCoy and Johnson. And then there was Duke.
Murphy became the gem of new head coach Manny Diaz’s first recruiting class. The redshirt freshman transfer needs to keep developing but could prove to be a real difference maker. And why was Diaz in the market? Because Notre Dame took Duke’s starting QB.
1. This was a fun read, and
2. Holy fucking shit
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Da fuq
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He's in a better place now
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How can these guys even enter the portal with the registration deadlines passed at most schools?
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Coaching change = 30 day window
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This is the Wild West now partner pew pew
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79% of the QBs in an insane number.
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They can enter the portal and agree to go to a new school, but they won't be able to enroll until the summer term.
Like the one Husker VB player (can't think of her name. The tall one) who is portalling to USC, but is still taking classes in Lincoln and even playing beach VB with UNL (I think that was the plan).
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“The tall one”
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