While much of the football world’s attention has been locked onto the NFL draft in Green Bay this week, many personnel departments and coaches at the college level were nervously waiting on something else key to their own roster builds for this fall: the close of the transfer portal on Friday.
This year’s spring portal window was certainly unique for the number of storylines created rather than the actual volume of impact players who changed teams. The bulk of big names in the sport who moved happened during the December window, but there were still plenty of surprises as players swapped locales following the conclusion of spring practice for most programs.
What should you know about the latest portal-palooza in college football? Here are a few key happenings around the sport as rosters finally start to settle into what they’ll become this season.
Nico Iamaleava and the QB derby
If there was any transfer story that got coaches, administrators, agents or anybody tangentially related to college athletics talking the past few weeks, it was probably the situation surrounding the Tennessee Volunteers and quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
While the rumors about Iamaleava essentially holding out for a better deal really exploded in the days before the Vols spring game a few weeks ago, the tension between the QB’s camp, the school, the Vols collective and others around college football had been simmering for many weeks prior. It would probably take a book to recount every step (or misstep) in the entire saga, but the bottom line is that Iamaleava overplayed his leverage and instead of returning to Knoxville on a significantly enhanced contract, he will instead be playing the 2025 season closer to home with the UCLA Bruins.
The swap supercharged a rather notable shuffling of signal-callers in the final weeks before the portal closed. On top of Iamaleava and his younger brother, Madden Iamaleava (via the Arkansas Razorbacks), committing to UCLA, a slew of other quarterbacks changed scenery. That included former Appalachian State Mountaineers starter turned Bruins QB Joey Aguilar (whom the Bruins offensive staff really liked) completing what amounts to the first player swap of the portal/NIL era by electing to take Iamaleava’s spot at Tennessee.
Also, after the Notre Dame Fighting Irish signaled that CJ Carr was the presumptive starter following spring ball, veteran Steve Angeli quickly hit the portal and landed with the Syracuse Orange.
The lack of portal activity at quarterback for other teams also said plenty about how they view their current situation. The USC Trojans were initially mentioned as a landing spot for the older Iamaleava but never really engaged with his camp, a trend that points toward Lincoln Riley’s belief in incumbent starter Malachi Nelson. The same is true with the Michigan Wolverines, who did not add another QB to the roster despite former Fresno State Bulldog Mikey Keene’s injury keeping him out of spring ball—all but pointing toward five-star freshman Bryce Underwood as the presumed starter in Ann Arbor.
Given the preference for coaches to have their QBs go through spring ball in order to pick up the offense and develop some chemistry with the rest of the offense, this wasn’t a super active window in the portal at the most important position on the field, but it was certainly supercharged by Tennessee’s starter throwing a big wrench into the process in the middle of April.
House settlement impact
It was not lost on anybody involved in college athletics this portal season that a looming decision regarding the settlement hovered over this window. There was very much an early rush to get the majority of big-money NIL deals done with players before the portal closed so that such contracts would not have to be submitted to the forthcoming NCAA clearinghouse. That frontloaded the vast majority of player movement (just shy of 3,000 players entered their names in the database this offseason) and also seemed to drive up the price across the board as schools battled desperation and deadlines.
It did not help matters that the judge overseeing the House case also seemed to hit the pause button on approving the settlement just days before the portal closed, which is notable given that so much of the money flowing into the system this year is contingent on the case being finalized before the summer rolls around. If that doesn’t end up happening as expected, there could be a lot more chaos (read: lawsuits) before the season starts if players don’t get some of the dollar figures they were promised.
There’s also the matter of the backend of many rosters, as the potential limit of 105 players on a team could alter the destination of many of the players who entered the portal before the deadline but still haven’t found a new home. There’s a not insignificant number of former or current walk-ons who could be solid depth additions for some programs, but most coaches are still in a bit of a holding pattern deciding those final few spots until clarity is given on just how many guys they’ll be able to take into fall camp later this year.
Texas, Texas Tech continue to smartly supplement
Two programs that stood out with their work in the portal this year both hailed from the Lone Star State as the Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech Red Raiders have not been shy in throwing their weight around to build a competitive roster for 2025.
The latter, in particular, was aggressive in landing players. The Red Raiders hold the top spot in 247 Sports’s transfer class rankings after the program splashed the cash to get some impact additions. On top of its notable work in December, Texas Tech moved quickly to get former Stanford Cardinal star David Bailey on campus to commit after his former program fired its head coach in March. Joey McGuire’s group also fortified even more by grabbing Colorado Buffaloes center Cash Cleveland. There’s also a growing expectation that former five-star Micah Hudson will return to Lubbock after a brief stopover with the Texas A&M Aggies led to him putting his name back into the portal this spring.
The Longhorns were a little more strategic this offseason when it came to utilizing the portal, but it’s hard to argue with their results as they filled holes across the board in key areas. They received a commitment from Stanford wideout Emmett Mosley V and Cal Golden Bears tight end Jack Endries as much-needed veterans for Arch Manning to throw to and made it a priority to bring former Syracuse defensive tackle Maraad Watson to Austin. Throw in former Maryland Terrapin Lavon Johnson as another big body in the trenches and a handful of special teams upgrades, and it’s easy to see why Steve Sarkisian has things rolling right now with plenty of momentum.
Perhaps Bill Belichick and UNC Tar Heels general manager Michael Lombardi are just regulars at dealing with roster changes during this time of year, but few teams were more active in the spring portal than the one in Chapel Hill. Among the notable incoming players: former South Alabama Jaguars quarterback Gio Lopez as a starting option under center, plus a slew of additional skill position talent like tailback Benjamin Hall (Michigan) and wide receivers Adrian Wilson (Colorado) and Dayton Sneed (Tennessee). Offensive linemen Daniel King (Troy Trojans) and Jordan Hall (UAB Blazers) will also be moving up from the Group of 5 ranks and could play big roles with the team.
Of course, North Carolina has not been without departures—with over 40 players hitting the portal since Belichick & Co. arrived. QB Ryan Browne notably returned to the Purdue Boilermakers after spending spring ball at UNC as part of a rare U-turn from a player. The biggest impact the school will feel moving forward is undoubtedly the loss of pass rusher Beau Atkinson. He was widely viewed as one of the best defenders in the portal during the second window and should start right away with the Ohio State Buckeyes and former Belichick assistant Matt Patricia.
Ott-to-Go
Cal has seen the bulk of its offense leave this offseason to the point where it will pretty much look like a brand new group from 2024 to ’25. While signal-caller Fernando Mendoza’s departure to the Indiana Hoosiers was expected to open the floodgates in December, that didn’t really happen until after the Bears went through spring ball and anybody who was still left in Berkeley seemed to hit the portal.
The most notable name among that group was certainly running back Jaydn Ott, who had a number of high-profile suitors reach out late last year before he ultimately decided to stay put for a few more months. However, once he hit the portal this spring, he quickly found a home with the Oklahoma Sooners, where he will team with another former Pac-12 product QB John Mateer to form one of the more interesting backfields in the SEC.
