As expected the NCAA has voted to eliminate the spring transfer portal for football. There will now be one window, which will run in 2026 from January 2-16.
This change will only impact football as other sports will maintain their spring portal periods, at least for next year. Players on teams in the College Football Playoff will have five days after their final post-season game to enter the portal. We’ll still probably see reserves on CFP teams departing in the regular portal period as offers and money will be flying fast when the portal opens. So with no more spring portal, coaches and players will have to make decisions before spring practice, which has pros and cons.
For a school like Syracuse, it could have helped with continuity on the offensive line as the Orange shuffled multiple linemen after spring practice. On the other hand, Steve Angeli might not have entered the portal after he finished Notre Dame’s CFP run as the backup in South Bend.
Another significant change relates to head coach departures. Currently, athletes have 30 days after their head coach leaves to enter the portal, but moving forward they won’t be able to enter the portal until a new head coach is announced. It’s likely someone will challenge this restriction in court, because it’s a significant shift. Athletes at UCLA and Virginia Tech will be grandfathered in on the old rules.
The NCAA Administrative Committee also voted to allow D1 athletes and coaches to bet on professional sports and paved the way for schools to have two commercial logos on their uniforms and apparel. We could be seeing those Micron/JMA Wireless/Wegmans logos on Syracuse jerseys as soon as 2026-27.
