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David Hale, ESPN Staff Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a unanimous show of support, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) coaches voted Tuesday in favor of a proposal that would reduce college football’s transfer windows down to a single 10-day period in January in an effort to preserve the integrity of bowl season and put guardrails on a system many coaches lament as entirely broken.
During their meeting at the 2025 American Football Coaches Association convention, coaches supported the move to a single portal window from Jan. 2 through Jan. 12, starting for the 2025-26 academic year. Such a move would eliminate the current portal windows in both December and April with the single, shorter window. The recommendation now moves to the NCAA oversight committee and ultimately the NCAA Division I council for final approval, which is far from guaranteed.
“These recommendations are intended to allow a student-athlete and coaches more opportunity to focus on their season while preserving the opportunities for students who choose to transfer to still be able to do so for a traditional spring semester,” AFCA president Craig Bohl said. “We looked at all kinds of information. I’m convinced our coaches care deeply about the student-athletes, so this decision was made through the filter of allowing them more stability and to be able to move forward.”
The concerns surrounding the existing portal windows are driven largely by the timeline crunch of early December — when postseason, high school recruiting and the portal all overlap — and the impact on bowl season.
This year alone, Penn State played two playoff games without its backup QB, Beau Pribula, after he entered the portal in December, while Marshall was forced to opt out of its bowl bid due to significant personnel attrition after the conclusion of the regular season.
“We want to protect the season and the sanctity of that, but at the same time, you’re trying to fit a competitive or an academic calendar to sync up, that’s a challenge,” said SMU coach Rhett Lashlee. “We’re the ones on the ground and we know the problems and probably the best solutions, so to be all on the same page and come to a consensus on what the best path forward is, I think we did that.”
The January window would, in theory, allow players to conclude their season with their existing teams while still finding a new home early enough to enroll for a spring semester and go through spring football with their new program.
How effective the proposal would be in curbing December opt-outs and what the lack of a spring transfer window would mean for players remains up for debate, and will likely be a significant sticking point as the proposal moves its way through the NCAA approval process.
“It was important as coaches to express some of the challenges the student-athletes have encountered,” Bohl said. “When we rolled out the windows there were good intentions but there were unintended consequences. As a result, we spent a significant amount of time discussing those challenges and how we can make a decision for the betterment of football.”
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