The Recruiting Guy

Portal making it tough for some to find offers

A football rests on a pylon before the NCAA college football playoff championship game between Georgia and Alabama, Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The NCAA transfer portal started in 2018, and with it college recruiting and the recruiting of high school prospects has changed.

Top-level football prospects are still heavily pursued, but mid-level prospects, who need development or in the past had a few Division I scholarship offers, are now seeing limited opportunities at the FBS level.

Colleges rely on the portal for ready-to-play athletes, and it’s at the cost of numerous high school prospects, according to Jonesboro football coach Randy Coleman.

He said he has had at least five Division-I prospects who either had to go the FCS route or have walked-on since the portal's inception.

“It hurts high school kids because there is no chance for the developmental prospect anymore,” Coleman said. “For example, the kids with length and athletic ability used to be a priority in high school recruiting because they could grow into their frame. Now, you hope those kids latch on to an FCS or high-level D-II school.

More from WholeHogSports: Smith stars for first time with Razorbacks in blowout win

“Now, college coaches, especially on the FBS level, can find that body with a fraction of college-level experience. And, for some reason, that is more attractive for them. I would argue that the in-state developmental kid would benefit in-state schools because they are less likely to enter the portal down the road.”

In April 2021, the NCAA started allowing transfers to have immediate eligibility instead of sitting out a year before being able to play. The uptick in players entering the portal took a big jump with 1,695 FBS players entering the portal in 2019-20.

The number jumped to 3,085 in 2021-22 because of the new ruling, according to an ESPN story.

This is the first year that the NCAA eliminated the limit of 25 scholarships per recruiting class. Schools can now sign as many athletes as they wish as long as they do not exceed 85 on scholarship.

According an NCAA report earlier this year, only 59% of FBS scholarship transfers received scholarships at another FBS school during 2019-20 and 2020-21, and 4 in 10 players did not find a school equal to or better than the one they left.

A Power 5 coach told Pine Bluff coach Micheal Williams that the school really liked one of his players, but they were seeing how the portal possibilities work out before potentially going forward with the Zebras prospect.

That is the standard message college coaches routinely give high school coaches about mid-level prospects.

“They’re not going to look at my kids until they get through with the transfer portal,” Williams said. “Even right now, I have two legitimate D-I players that I know that can play D-I because I’ve seen that same player before with no offers and [colleges] can’t offer because they’re still kind of looking [at the portal].”

Williams is noticing some high-profile prospects getting fewer scholarship offers because of the focus on the portal.

“Even some of the 4-stars [are] not even getting the same scholarships they were getting four or five years ago,” Williams said.

Because of the trickle-down effect of some prospects having to play down a level, it’s creating less opportunities for the lower-level prospects. Williams believes five of his players would normally have scholarships pre-portal, but now won’t have opportunities to play college ball.

More from WholeHogSports: Brazile finishes with career game against San Jose State, bouncing back from game vs. Troy

Little Rock Parkview coach Brad Bolding, who led the Patriots to the Class 5A state title on Saturday, sees high school prospects getting less opportunities because of the number of high Division I players entering the portal and having to go down a level or two or beyond to find a place to play.

“I believe the mid-major D-I schools and FCS schools are mostly strictly recruiting off the portal, and I understand why. They are getting big-time D-I players, who a lot of times aren’t getting on the field, and they are willing to work and wait,” Bolding said.

Of the University of Central Arkansas’ 25 signees during last year’s early signing period, 14 were transfers.

Hot Springs coach Darrell Burnett has seen some of his players play at smaller schools because of the portal.

“We’ve had 2-3 guys who normally before covid/transfer portal cycle would’ve been D-I or FCS, but they took transfers at that position, and those guys eventually went D-II,” Burnett said.