” The QB Carousel”
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We have never seen this before, but we have seen the fallout almost weekly in college football.
The NCAA has introduced free agency to college players, as a form of players rights, much like the NIL legislation involving player payments.
What we have seen however is the destruction of team rosters. We have seen coaches have to re-recruit the players they brought in and had success with.
What started with rules that players could transfer as graduate students and play immediately, has been followed by new legislation that players, any age, any class, can transfer and play immediately.
Therefore, a transfer portal has exploded that includes nearly 2100 football players this off season.
Players rights activists say coaching changes, coaching firings, changes in systems, and NCAA sanctions, should allow players to move without restrictions.
Alabama is a prime example. 18-hours after their loss to Georgia in the Championship playoff game, 7-players entered the transfer portal including starters at TE and WR. The Crimson Tide is the epic program in college football, and guys are jumping ship, looking for better deals..
The quarterback position is as vital a spot in college football as it is in the NFL, and as of this morning there have been 21-quarterbacks who have already transferred.
Close to home, San Diego State lost QB-Lucas Johnson, coming off a bowl win, who transferred to Montana for his final year as a grad student transfer. This after Brady Hoke and staff spent 2-years getting him up to speed to become efficient. And he did, finishing with his best outing in the bowl game win over Texas-San Antonio. He leaves and will go play at Montana, an FCS-1AA school for Bobby Hauck, a fine coach, and a former Aztec. But it’s Big Sky Conference. Makes no sense to me.
Look at what is happening at USC. You yearn for the days of Carson Palmer-Matt Leinert-Sam Darnold. Instead we have coaching turmoil, from Lane Kiffin to Clay Helton. We go from JT Daniels, the bluechip phenom, who started, got hurt, lost his job, and took off to Georgia. He got hurt again and lost his job to JUCO transfer Stetson Bennett, who drove the Bulldogs to the title.
Kedon Slovis replaced Daniels, established big numbers, got hurt himself and lost the job to Jaxson Dart last year. Slovis has transferred to Pitt. Now Dart has entered the portal too, because Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams may join Lincoln Riley his head coach, in LA. And of course this was all triggered by the Trojans loss of Bryce Young, who bailed out of his verbal commitment at the last minute to go to Alabama.
UCLA has gone untouched in all this. Despite the uncertainty of Chip Kelly’s status after a strange group of years, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, will return for an extra year, rather than leave for another team or the NFL.. The Bruins thought they had landed UCF’s explosive thrower Dillon Gabriel, but he left before he enrolled and suddenly was an Oklahoma Sooner.
It’s chaotic everywhere.
Washington Huskies QB Chase Garbers transfers to Cal, then Purdue’s starting QB Jack Plummer heads to the Golden Bears a year later.
Washington, which won a bitter recruiting battle for Dylan Morris, may lose him because the Huskies just landed Michael Penix, the Indiana Hoosiers starter.
Washington State’s outstanding freshman QB Jayden deLLaura puts up big numbers, and then exits after the Nick Rolovich firing to go to Arizona. The Cougars replaced him getting Division II passing star Cameron Ward, who threw 47-TDs at a lower level and has 3-years eligibility left.
Oregon wound up with a good QB from Boston College, Anthony Brown, now he’s gone, replaced by Auburn’s starting QB-Bo Nix.
Wyoming’s record setting freshman Levi Mitchell bolted a day after the Cowboys won a bowl game, wanting to go other places, and wound up at Utah State
Colorado State’s big throwing QB-Todd Centelo dropped down a notch to go to 1AA James Madison University.
Hawaii’s Chad Cordeiro didn’t like the coach, and came stateside to San Jose State.
Ohio State lost hotshot prospect Quinn Ebers, who became a Texas Longhorn.
Spencer Rattler bailed at Oklahoma and landed at South Carolina.
Virginia Tech got Jason Brown of South Caroiina who moved when Rattler arrived from the Big 12.
Nebraska’s 4-year starter Adrian Martinez said goodbye, transferring to Kansas State.
Texas’ Casey Thompson bailed from the Longhorns after a lousy season, and resurfaced at Nebraska.
Texas AM wound up with Max Johnson, who defected from LSU.. That was after the Aggies starter Zach Calzado wound up at the Auburn.
LSU, Virginia Tech, Duke, Georgia Tech all lost starters. Kansas lost 2-quarterbacks.
Someone will have to argue long and hard how free movement is good for college football. I know it’s bad in many cases, especially at a Group of 5-school to have so many QB defections..
This was a bad decision, among many bad decisions under the Mark Emmert leadership model at the NCAA office.
As 1-coach sounded off, N-C-A-A stands for Nobody-Cares-At-All, especially about the stability of college football programs.
Connect the dots..it leads you to college football chaos.
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