Mack Brown was answering a random question at the end of a press conference when he detailed some of the wildness of roster retention in the transfer portal era. UNC’s coach was asked about Jacolby Criswell and how the quarterback has developed, when Brown opened up about the portal being open even when it’s not really open.
“I’m telling you, there’s agents calling kids every day saying, ‘I don’t know how much you’re playing. Would you like to transfer to this school?’ And we get calls every day. It’s unbelievable. From kids playing,” Brown said after UNC’s win over FSU on Saturday.
The games are still being played across college football, with most schools facing three more opponents before the November slate wraps up. Then the three-day high school signing period begins on Dec. 4, with the transfer portal (officially) opening on Dec. 9.
Coaches and the NCAA designed the calendar shift for 2024 where the high school signing window moved up from Dec. 20-22. The plan was for high school prospects to sign before the transfer portal opened, in part to better help coaches manage rosters, and to limit the juggling that takes place with bowl practices.
If there’s one thing about the college football calendar that we’ve learned, it’s that there’s little break except for when coaches take vacation time in July.
Welcome to November. The portal is open. Even if it (wink, wink) isn’t open.
FSU coach Mike Norvell has discussed at length the importance of roster retention and recruiting as he evaluates the big picture for the football program. Norvell reiterated that every day he steps on the field is an opportunity for him to re-recruit the Seminoles by how he coaches and pushes.
"The time that we pour into them as people, helping them work to grow into the people they’re capable of being, that’s my recruiting effort," Norvell said after Wednesday's practice. "Anybody can sit in front of them and tell them something that might sound good, get them to feel a certain way in the moment. But they know it’s true, and that they’re going to be pushed and they’re going to be challenged (at FSU). That they’re going to be cared for, that they’re going to be lifted up when they get knocked down. Those are all things that we’ve worked to do throughout the years."
Norvell said he can't worry too much about the actions of agents or representatives, instead focusing on FSU's coaching efforts and player development.
"People reach out, I’m sure, collectives and all the other stuff," Norvell said. "I’m sure there’s probably calls being made. I don’t get too consumed with that because I want to make sure these guys, they see it from us — our effort that we have in helping develop and pour into them."
Brown coached at Texas, where he won a national title, and is in his second stint at UNC. He’s been known to pontificate about the state of college football, whether he was doing so as a head coach or ESPN analyst. His candor as a sitting head coach is eye-opening.
“Their agents are saying, ‘Would you be interested in so and so?’ I said, ‘He’s not in the portal.’ But agents are talking to agents," Brown said. "That’s happening more than ever before. So you are having to continue to recruit your own roster.”
Takeaway Tuesday: FSU's offensive struggles, lack of third-down stops
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