Florida's incumbent starting QB talks college transfer portal

The NCAA transfer portal has changed the collegiate landscape in ways that most could not have imagined, creating a de facto free agency system that has turned both major and minor sports upside down. This has created a completely different environment for programs to deal with in building their respective rosters.

The Athletic’s Larry Holder recently spoke with some of the top quarterbacks in college football, who were participating in the Manning Passing Academy, all of whom had transferred at least once since leaving high school. Florida’s incumbent starting QB Graham Mertz was among the respondents who shared their thoughts with Holder on how things have changed over the last half-decade.

The difficulty of leaving the first program

“You never want to turn your back on a place that you committed to out of high school,” Mertz begins.

“And I’m in a little bit (of a) different area, because I came into college before NIL, before transfer portal. So I kind of saw it like in the old days. So for me going through and seeing the changes, it’s interesting because you see guys enter the portal and there’s plenty of different reasons. And I think just if that’s your decision, it needs to be a decision that’s best for your career.”

The redshirt senior continued by pointing out the complexity of such a decision.

“You never want to see somebody leave your team. But it always comes down to fit — how do they fit in the offense or the defense? So there’s a lot of layers to it that makes it really complicated.”

Mertz talks about leaving Wisconsin

“It wasn’t fun to leave. Me leaving Wisconsin, I never wanted to leave. But you have a coaching change. You’re at the end of your college career. You want to find out — like, for me — you want to find out who your OC (offensive coordinator) is going to be.

“You want to know, and that was kind of what led me to that decision. But it wasn’t easy. And the portal, now you’ve got 18 days to make a decision. So yeah, that’s becoming the norm.”

Florida’s 2024 season opener

The Florida and Miami open their schedule on Aug. 31 in Gainesville, Florida. Kickoff time is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ABC Sports.

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