Seems that WSU may be a major beneficiary of the transfer portal. Where we sit in the pecking order of schools, we are kind of in that Goldilocks zone where players that may not traditionally choose WSU out of highschool due to “better” schools, will be open to going to a “smaller” major program to see the field. Wonder if we continue taking classes that leave 4-6 spots per year for transfer players at key spots.
Transfer portal and the future.
- Thread starter chugspig
- Start date
I suspect the portal is a net negative for us. Especially if we stop being a perennial bowl team.
It's fun to land new recruits from the portal. We see all the upside of these players and we aren't familiar with their warts yet. This doesn't change the fact that kids hit the portal for a reason and we aren't going to be the first destination of top tier talents. There is a possible exception of at QB. All the kids we've grabbed in the portal lost their starting to rolls and we've seen a lot of depth head out the door. We are vulnerable to some of our more talented players leaving to play against better competition (especially those out of the conference foot print) and I don't think we are going to land many superstars.
I do think this year makes more sense to aggressively pursue kids in the portal for the purpose of spreading scholarships out. We have a ton of kids with true freshman eligibility and at some point there isn't enough reps for everyone.
It's fun to land new recruits from the portal. We see all the upside of these players and we aren't familiar with their warts yet. This doesn't change the fact that kids hit the portal for a reason and we aren't going to be the first destination of top tier talents. There is a possible exception of at QB. All the kids we've grabbed in the portal lost their starting to rolls and we've seen a lot of depth head out the door. We are vulnerable to some of our more talented players leaving to play against better competition (especially those out of the conference foot print) and I don't think we are going to land many superstars.
I do think this year makes more sense to aggressively pursue kids in the portal for the purpose of spreading scholarships out. We have a ton of kids with true freshman eligibility and at some point there isn't enough reps for everyone.
The portal usually means the kid is not a tremendous academic risk. You can't make the same assumption about JC transfers. I agree with etown that we don't know their warts yet, but everybody has warts. And the maturity that they should gain from having chosen a place and having it then not work out will likely trim the warts a little. I suspect that we will gain more than we lose from the portal; it will assume a big part of the role that JC transfers assumed 25 years ago.
There is another angle, as well. The existence of the portal will make it a tad bit easier for the Oregons & SC's of the world to bring in 3 guys to compete for 1 spot, because the kids know that if all else fails, there is always the portal. Not sure it will mean as much that way for UW, since they are no longer seen as a football power by current HS kids.
There is another angle, as well. The existence of the portal will make it a tad bit easier for the Oregons & SC's of the world to bring in 3 guys to compete for 1 spot, because the kids know that if all else fails, there is always the portal. Not sure it will mean as much that way for UW, since they are no longer seen as a football power by current HS kids.
This whole process is new so I won't get dogmatic but I'm not a huge fan of the portal.
Guarantano lost his job on a bad Tennessee team. He's talented and getting some time to throw might produce some eye popping stays though. Completely worth the scholarship as he could be the different between a successful season and a disaster.
Ben Wilson was losing reps on an average TCU squad. He was a highly rated guy out of high school and should start once Woods, Rogers, and Sherman graduate. Hopefully he and Brown are given a shot at starting opposite Jahad. He's not a shoo-in to start.
Christian Jackson lost his starting spot for MSU. If Mel Tucker doesn't think the guy factors into his plans, I don't see how he beats out Watson and Wade-Smith for PT. If he's eligible this year, I see him behind Hicks and fighting with Langston and some of the true freshman for reps.
We lost to the portal:
Tay Martin- He definitely would have started and had the potential to put up monster numbers if we'd have tossed him the rock.
Kassidy Woods- Depth guy. Probably doesn't light himself on fire if the portal wasn't so tempting.
Mike Pettway- Got homesick. Don't think the portal changed much.
Lamonte McDougle- Would have played in the rotation. The portal sucks this type of player in. Huge ego and enough talent to convince him he's not getting enough love at his current stop.
Will Rodgers- Another two deep guy with a ton of experience. Gets more playing time because of portal.
Cosmas Kwete- Huge talent who got homesick. He's gonna shred the Big Sky. Portal didn't make an impact.
Skyler Thomas- Would have been nice to have him against Utah instead of true freshman Hunter Escoria. Another depth guy lost because he sought more PT.
On the whole I think we've lost more than we've gained, particularly from a depth standpoint. And grabbing a portal kid takes a precious scholarship away from the 25 you get each year.
My far less popular opinion is that I like what JC develops in kids. If you can survive on the Top Ramen meal plans, fend for yourself housing, and hope you can figure out how to pass academic support... I think they have a bigger appreciation for the opportunity WSU provides than a kid who quit when it got hard at his last D1 stop.
Guarantano lost his job on a bad Tennessee team. He's talented and getting some time to throw might produce some eye popping stays though. Completely worth the scholarship as he could be the different between a successful season and a disaster.
Ben Wilson was losing reps on an average TCU squad. He was a highly rated guy out of high school and should start once Woods, Rogers, and Sherman graduate. Hopefully he and Brown are given a shot at starting opposite Jahad. He's not a shoo-in to start.
Christian Jackson lost his starting spot for MSU. If Mel Tucker doesn't think the guy factors into his plans, I don't see how he beats out Watson and Wade-Smith for PT. If he's eligible this year, I see him behind Hicks and fighting with Langston and some of the true freshman for reps.
We lost to the portal:
Tay Martin- He definitely would have started and had the potential to put up monster numbers if we'd have tossed him the rock.
Kassidy Woods- Depth guy. Probably doesn't light himself on fire if the portal wasn't so tempting.
Mike Pettway- Got homesick. Don't think the portal changed much.
Lamonte McDougle- Would have played in the rotation. The portal sucks this type of player in. Huge ego and enough talent to convince him he's not getting enough love at his current stop.
Will Rodgers- Another two deep guy with a ton of experience. Gets more playing time because of portal.
Cosmas Kwete- Huge talent who got homesick. He's gonna shred the Big Sky. Portal didn't make an impact.
Skyler Thomas- Would have been nice to have him against Utah instead of true freshman Hunter Escoria. Another depth guy lost because he sought more PT.
On the whole I think we've lost more than we've gained, particularly from a depth standpoint. And grabbing a portal kid takes a precious scholarship away from the 25 you get each year.
My far less popular opinion is that I like what JC develops in kids. If you can survive on the Top Ramen meal plans, fend for yourself housing, and hope you can figure out how to pass academic support... I think they have a bigger appreciation for the opportunity WSU provides than a kid who quit when it got hard at his last D1 stop.
Im not a fan of most JC programs. Kids land at JC’s typically for 1 of 4 reasons. Grades, behavior, high school career didnt shake out the way they’d hoped or their skill set was in the wrong scheme in HS.
If the kid struggles to make grades at the JC, how does that get better once he transfers? Behavior can be changed but still could be some red flags. Maybe the kid gets into the right scheme to showcase his ability???
The portal could work but you’ve gotta get the right fit. Maybe some kids do land in the wrong fit or wrong place or wrong scheme/coach. You can find some guys that can help you. But if a kid is leaving cause he was a cancer or malcontent, no thanks.
Sorta like two exes getting remarried. Better hope your judgement is better than the person taking the leap with your ex.
You have to remember that we went through a coaching change (and a time where we thought there was going to be no season (tay Martin)). Portal or no portal we would have had some attrition. It might look different once the coaching staff is stabilized.
Chris Jackson was in the similar situation. New coach and all. From what I read he wasn’t a headache, he was a good corner with a lot potential. I believe he’s from Georgia and Richardson recruits there so I assume him and Richardson go way back. It’s clear Richardson is our best recruiter.
I don't disagree with a lot of your points but.........We essentially got Gardner Minshew through the equivalent of the transfer portal and I would argue that his impact was pretty high. The comments above about USC telling a guy that he should go to USC and see if it works out is something that could definitely be a negative for us but I think the overall history of WSU is such that outside of coaching jobs and malcontents, we aren't going to lose a lot of guys that matter.
Nah, grad transfers are different then opening pandora's box for any and every 2 and 3 star player/undergrad who somehow thinks they got slighted and deserve more playing time to bail on the team, coach, and college they made a commitment to.
If Biggs is off of his bender I'm sure he'll be on here talking about players rights and how they get f'd by the system, and that's not entirely untrue, but the portal stinks and its most odiferous for smaller programs like ours. We'll lose far more players to their egos and sense of entitlement than we'll gain from grabbing scraps from red chip programs (because lets be honest, blue chippers are going to other blue chip programs, not us).
Of course this is all about the all mighty dollar: no one is giving the hs kids the "only 0.09% of hs players make the nfl, so make the most of your college playing time" speech because they'd rather convince them that if they just sign up for one more year of my Tracy Ford Sports performance package at $10k/ year, you'll (probably still won't) make the NFL.
Honestly, I don't know how anyone can look at the portal and think that its good for the sport. What's next - signing bonuses?
I agree that it's not necessarily good for the sport, but it was kind of sad to think that a coach could leave with no repercussions but a kid was told that he couldn't. Or a school could fire a coach and kids who had picked that school because of the coach were told that it was just too darned bad and to get over it.
Since nobody has talked about this problem:
Alabama/USC, etc, type coach:
"Hey Hi there STUD WSU player. I noticed that you had a MONSTER season last year. Your such a awesome player. I see a problem for you tho. 1. Your at WSU: That means that either A. WSU either have bad season, or will have bad season. B. Even if have good season, your likely to get SNUBBED by the NFL, because your at WSU. 2. Your in the Weak Pac 12: A. The Pac 12 Network wont get you visibility which can downgrade your NFL stock. B. If there is another either covid or some other disease season, you might lose games, film, exposure, playing time, etc. Again that could lower your NFL Stock.
Now at Alabama, SEC, etc, you dont, wont have those problems.
And also at XYZ position, we have a spot for you. I can guarantee you, that you will start, etc.
And since Alabama is outside the Pac 12, you dont have to sit out, wait for 1 year after you use the Transfer Portal to transfer from WSU to Alabama.
And since its Alabama, you would get to goto the National Championship Bowl.
So what do you say, want to transfer from WSU to Alabama via the Transfer Portal?"
In other words, WSU will be like a Highschool, JC, or minor league farm team, from which the Alabama type recruiters would,will recruit from. The coaches will contact WSU players and convince them to use the transfer portal to transfer. Remember these dont have to be WSU players looking to transfer. These dont have to be WSU players doing the first contact, contacting other teams, coaches first. These dont have to be WSU players that hit the transfer portal, before being contacted.
Remember these can be WSU players that are happy at WSU, that are having NFL seasons, that are future NFL players, that are contacted by Alabama type coaches, and shown that they would have a better opportunity, etc, at a Alabama type college, and thus convince them to hit the transfer portal and transfer to a Alabama type college.
The Transfer Portal can be extremely bad for WSU in this way.
Alabama/USC, etc, type coach:
"Hey Hi there STUD WSU player. I noticed that you had a MONSTER season last year. Your such a awesome player. I see a problem for you tho. 1. Your at WSU: That means that either A. WSU either have bad season, or will have bad season. B. Even if have good season, your likely to get SNUBBED by the NFL, because your at WSU. 2. Your in the Weak Pac 12: A. The Pac 12 Network wont get you visibility which can downgrade your NFL stock. B. If there is another either covid or some other disease season, you might lose games, film, exposure, playing time, etc. Again that could lower your NFL Stock.
Now at Alabama, SEC, etc, you dont, wont have those problems.
And also at XYZ position, we have a spot for you. I can guarantee you, that you will start, etc.
And since Alabama is outside the Pac 12, you dont have to sit out, wait for 1 year after you use the Transfer Portal to transfer from WSU to Alabama.
And since its Alabama, you would get to goto the National Championship Bowl.
So what do you say, want to transfer from WSU to Alabama via the Transfer Portal?"
In other words, WSU will be like a Highschool, JC, or minor league farm team, from which the Alabama type recruiters would,will recruit from. The coaches will contact WSU players and convince them to use the transfer portal to transfer. Remember these dont have to be WSU players looking to transfer. These dont have to be WSU players doing the first contact, contacting other teams, coaches first. These dont have to be WSU players that hit the transfer portal, before being contacted.
Remember these can be WSU players that are happy at WSU, that are having NFL seasons, that are future NFL players, that are contacted by Alabama type coaches, and shown that they would have a better opportunity, etc, at a Alabama type college, and thus convince them to hit the transfer portal and transfer to a Alabama type college.
The Transfer Portal can be extremely bad for WSU in this way.
I thought we were on the path of allowing transfer waivers for those situations, so kids didn't lose a year of eligibility. Somehow that turned into a free-for-all swinging door.
I'd be curious to see how transferring turns out for most kids, as far as their expectations for PT. Especially when they transfer down a division.
QB is weird. If you told me a guy who lost his job at a bad East Carolina team would come here and lead the nation in passing and start in the NFL I would have bet against you. But that was a grad transfer situation and Gardner simply wanted an opportunity. If memory serves he and Joe Dahl were the only successful transfers of the Mike Leach era.
The portal has been a bad deal for the kids as well. Most end up transferring down a level and end up with similar playing time. Or worst case, they end up without a scholarship and quit school. McDougle and Pettway are both without chairs right now.
Keep in mind these kids have had people in their ear for as long as they have been playing sports telling him how great they were (which is true, they've always been elite athletes for their level). It's tempting to listen to those voices when they face adversity and believe the issue is the coach/whatever and not a situation where they need to improve. The portal enables a lot of bad choices.
I mean, any smart coach has to tell himself "yeah, we just punched over our weight grabbing this kid, buuuuut... there's a reason he's tranferring. Either he's an entitled shit (more than likely) or he really got a raw deal for whatever reason." There might even be more prejudice against a kid who bailed on his first (not to mention second) "commitment" due to what that may say about his character. Just spitballing here...
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