What Dave Doeren said about the NCAA’s move to a single transfer portal window
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- NCAA will eliminate spring portal and adopt single transfer window.
- Coaches, including Dave Doeren, support window for improved roster stability.
- Coaches back five-for-five rule, seeking flexibility and reduced transfer misuse.
The NCAA Administrative Committee announced Wednesday that it has eliminated the spring transfer portal period and is switching to a single transfer window.
It’s unclear when the portal will open and for how long, but the committee will consider these variables at its meeting in October.
“In response to student-athlete feedback, football oversight committees will consider modifications to the proposed single January window, including length of window and corresponding dates,” the NCAA said in a statement.
N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren shared his support for the single transfer window during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
“It’s after most of the bowl games. I think that’s a positive,” Doeren said. “There’s way too many guys opting out to transfer. All we do is talk about ‘finish.’ Giving them a calendar that allows them to finish what they started, I think is a good move. Having one window, I think, is a good move. There shouldn’t be two times a year we have to worry about guys leaving.”
Doeren said it’s better for roster management. He has been an outspoken critic of the two portal windows and their misalignment with the high school and junior college recruiting calendar.
Last fall, he said the first notice-of-transfer window opened before bowl games. Coaches were forced to balance bowl game prep, recruiting and the holidays. Players, regardless if they decided to transfer, were in the middle of final exams.
Additionally, some players may have wanted to play in the bowl game prior to transferring but were unable to remain with their program because of the timeline.
The portal also opened after early signing day. Any unexpected transfers meant teams had open scholarships available, which they could have potentially filled with junior college or high school prospects.
Additionally, the second transfer window opened after the majority of programs finished spring workouts and their spring games or similar showcase events.. Some coaches scrapped their public spring events entirely due to concerns about other programs poaching players in the second window.
Doeren said he doesn’t know what the perfect transfer portal window is. The sport’s calendar has changed yearly and schools may have different academic calendars. FBS coaches who attended the American Football Coaches Association conference in January recommended a portal window from Jan. 2-16, 2026. The motion to recommend a single window to the NCAA Football Oversight Committee passed unanimously.
The oversight committee approved the recommendation earlier this month. It, however, recommended the portal be open from Jan. 2-11, 2026.
Coaches at lower levels of football programs told the News & Observer in January that portal impacts them, too, and slightly more regulation would help stabilize college football as a whole.
“Is this going to be the perfect window? We’ll have to just do what we’ve been doing,” Doeren said. “It’s a new era. You try something, you think it’s going to work, and then you assess it afterwards, scout it and see what the problems were.”
This should also help mitigate players signing NIL deals with their schools and leaving when they receive another offer. N.C. State was a victim of this last season.
Dacari Collins (Louisville), Kendrick Raphael (California), Kamal Bonner (Miami), Brandon Cisse (South Carolina), Tamarcus Cooley (LSU), Bishop Fitzgerald (Southern California) and Devan Boykin (Indiana) were among the 25 players who signed with One Pack NIL in December, indicating their intention to return this fall. Instead, they all entered the portal.
Bonner was a late departure from the program after he went through spring practice.
“If they sign a deal with you, they should be with you for at least one calendar year,” Doeren said, “so I think it’s way better than what we had.”
The transfer portal still opens for 30 days if a coach is fired, including Virginia Tech. The Hokies fired Brent Pry and will be led by interim head coach Philip Montgomery when the team comes to Raleigh on Sept. 27.
Doeren also addressed the suggested five-in-five rule, which would eliminate the four-game redshirt rule. Doeren believes the rule was created to allow players an opportunity to receive game experience and help their development, but it’s not always being used for that.
“It’s turned into leverage for other teams to try to get guys to transfer and agents to try to get guys to save years so they can get more money for them potentially,” Doeren said. N.C. State has also experienced previous players redshirting to preserve eligibility and then leaving the program. “Let them play for five years, let them play as much as they can play for five years, and get that stuff out of there. Now that we’re at a 105 roster limit, eventually it makes sense to have more available players because of attrition or for us to be able to [say], ‘Hey, everybody has a chance.’”
Doeren said if a scout team player has a great week in practice and there’s an injury to another player, coaches should be able to put those student-athletes in a game without worrying about losing eligibility.
“I know I’ve talked to a lot of coaches and other leagues, and our coaches in our league, there’s a lot of people in favor of that,” Doeren said. “I hope that they do the right thing and grant that rule and really help college football.”
