College football's spring transfer period is officially in jeopardy of being eliminated after the NCAA's FBS and FCS oversight committees recommended the sport move to a single offseason transfer notification window.
Under his proposal, the 30-day transfer window in December would become the only opportunity for FBS and FCS players to enter their name into the transfer portal and look for a new school. For the past two years, the transfer portal has also been open for a 15-day period in April.
The Division I Council will meet in October to determine whether to adopt the proposal, which reduces the total number of days student-athletes can transfer from 45 to 30.
If approved, the change would take effect for the 2024-25 school year. The December transfer window will open the Monday after the conference title games and run from Dec. 9 to Jan. 7. The NCAA cited a focus on promoting “roster stability for student-athletes and their programs” in its statement on the proposal.
This year, more than 900 FBS scholarship players entered the portal in the month of April after the NCAA was forced to lift its one-time transfer restrictions. The 2023-24 portal cycle saw a record number of transactions once again, with more than 2,700 FBS scholarship transfers.
Players whose teams compete in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff or FCS playoffs would still get a five-day exemption to enter the portal once their season has concluded. Players have also been able to take advantage of a 30-day window to transfer in the event of a coaching change.
The football oversight committees also approved a blanket waiver for the 2024 season that ensures players who wish to sit out the season can play in any postseason game (conference championships, bowl games and College Football or FCS playoff games) without it counting toward their four-game limit.
