In-state G5 coaches view transfer portal as a net positive

Listen to a press conference or sports radio or the loud voices on Twitter and it’d be easy to think that the advent of the transfer portal is sure to damage college football, especially at the G5 level. But most of the coaches, at least in Texas, disagree. The transfer portal presents new challenges, and it isn’t a perfect system, but many head coaches argue that their rosters have never been as talented. 

The sky isn’t falling. The game of football isn’t dying. Like most changes, the outcry outweighs the outcomes. The seven G5 programs in Texas added an average of 9.7 transfers to its programs between the end of the 2021 season and the beginning of fall camp in 2022. SMU led the way with 17. UTEP was the lowest with one, but the Miners did add nine JUCO players to the roster. Of the 68 incoming transfers at the G5 programs in Texas, 43 came from the Power Five level. That’s 63 percent.