Picture this scenario.
A 3 year starting quarterback at Northern Illinois, fresh off his second conference championship, and second league MVP, decides he’s going to enter the transfer portal. He’s 6’4”, 230 pounds, with a rocket arm and good athleticism. He’s broken every school passing record and has been told by the NFL that they need to see him do it in the “majors”.
He puts the graphic up on twitter, or X, or whatever we’re calling it now. Immediately, 20-25 power 5 schools reach out. The rumor around college football is that transfer quarterbacks of this caliber are commanding upwards of $2 million dollars, so the bidding will start there.
After going through a lengthy process, our highly sought-after QB chooses to finish his college career at the University of Miami. The quarterback room now consists of the new free agent, a second year, four star and two freshmen with very high upside. Here’s where the issue for me is…
How can you instill a culture of competition when a high dollar free agent at ANY position will come in and most likely not have to compete. We can be naïve and think that a priority free agent isn’t going to shoot straight to the top of the depth chart, but the bottom line is they are being brought in to start. This past season, starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, got off to an amazing start. When conference play started, there was a noticeable difference and his play, along with some coaching blunders cost us a few very winnable games. Does Tyler get that long of a leash if he didn’t renegotiate his NIL contract and get more money? The bottom line is, college football is becoming more like the NFL each year, until the transfer portal and NIL is fixed. Until then, players will demand more money and if they don’t get what they think they deserve, they will jump in the portal. Colleges will overpay for “free agents” and those players will play, with elevated expectations and longer leashes. Welcome to the new college football!
