Penn State football head coach James Franklin has been outspoken about his distaste for the current CFB Transfer Portal model that allows players to submit their names in a December window an April window. He expressed his frustrations with the lack of concern from an academic standpoint in the past and most recently his gripe with poor timing.
The NCAA Football Oversight Committee voted on Thursday, Sept. 4 in support for a single Transfer Portal window. According to Ross Dellenger, the Administrative Committee needs to formerly adopt this change, but this adjustment significantly alters the previous two-window model.
While Franklin is an advocate for a one-window per year model for the Transfer Portal, having it smack dab in the midst of playoffs is anything except beneficial for the Nittany Lions (or any College Football Playoff-likely team from here on out).
The NCAA FB Oversight Committee voted today to support a single transfer portal in January, sources tell @YahooSports, ushering in a significant change.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 4, 2025
The Administrative Committee still needs to formally adopt the change later. The 10-day window is expected to open Jan. 2.
When former Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula met with Franklin regarding his unknown future in Happy Valley, the head coach made it clear to media that Pribula was faced with an impossible decision largely due to the timing of the Transfer Portal window.
In 2024, this first window was open from Dec. 9-28 during the first around of the CFP. From a quarterback's perspective, especially, if Pribula waited until spring for the second window to open, he would have missed out on a lot of attention from better schools and end up either right behind Drew Allar for his second-to-last eligible season or with an unfavorable team.
However, this also meant he had to say goodbye to the blue and white if he wanted to contact coaches, visit schools, and transfer. Franklin said Pribula didn't want to leave Penn State until after the season, including the playoffs. The Transfer Portal calendar wouldn't allow that.
Pending Transfer Portal change will be a nightmare for playoff-bounds teams
Instead of moving the proposed single Transfer Portal window until after the postseason, there's going to be chaos during the playoffs with a lot of unknowns and what ifs.
The first round of the 2025-26 CFP starts Friday, Dec. 19 until Saturday, Dec. 20. The quarterfinals follows on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 with the semifinals slated for Jan. 8 and Jan. 9. One day after the quarterfinals is when the Transfer Portal will open. The National Championship Game (Jan. 19) won't have even been played when the 10-day window closes.
If a player is meeting with their coach, they won't have a lot of time to discuss their future with the team. CFP-bound coaches might tell their players their decision needs to be made before playoffs start so there are no Transfer Portal distractions during the postseason, even if they can't enter until almost one month after deciding.
On top of that, it's not just positions like quarterback that are faced with a "no-win" situation, as Franklin labeled Pribula's. It's everyone. There's no second window to consider if they want to play out the rest of the postseason. Restructuring the calendar and creating one window is one thing, causing even more chaos in the midst of playoff season a whole other situation that will need to be dealt with and adjusted in the future.