Recommendation to eliminate 15-day spring transfer portal window for football players moves forward

The NCAA Division I Council will consider eliminating the 15-day spring transfer window for football as part of a move to decrease the overall number of days from 45 to 30 that players can declare their intentions to switch schools while maintaining immediate eligibility.

The NCAA announced Tuesday that the football oversight committees have recommended decreasing the transfer portal windows from two to one. The council will meet in October and if approved, the new one-window arrangement could go into effect this year from Dec. 9-Jan. 7.

The oversight committee had already recommended cutting the total number days the portal windows by 15 to 30. That’s likely to pass. The question now is: two 15-day windows, winter and spring, or one 30-day, starting in December.

The transfer windows are for undergraduate athletes to maintain immediate eligibility. Graduate transfers can enter the portal at any time and remain eligible to play right away at their new school.

Eliminating the spring window is widely supported by coaches, but it’s unclear how much push back there will be from athletes. Especially with a plan to switch from scholarship limits to roster limits next year that could necessitate rosters being trimmed in the spring.

The proposal does not affect an exception for football players in both the Bowl Subdivision and Championship Subdivision who compete in the postseason. Those athletes receive a five-day window after their team’s last game, if necessary.

The oversight committee also recommended passing a blanket waiver for this season to allow postseason games to not count toward the four games football players can compete in while still retaining a redshirt year of eligibility.

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