In the ever-evolving world of college football, a seismic shift seems inevitable. Playoff expansion, NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rules, and revenue sharing are all in the spotlight.
Behind closed doors, a small but powerful group of administrators is quietly working to overhaul the sport’s operational calendar. These folks—athletic directors, compliance officers, and chief football administrators from power conferences—want to change how college football handles its transfer portal, recruiting cycle, and spring practice.
As a new season creeps closer, these looming changes could really shake up the sport.
Revolutionizing the College Football Calendar
The 15-member working group has spent the summer meeting, tossing around ideas, and aiming to deliver a proposal by late August. They’re focused on a few big areas:
- Transfer Window
- Recruiting Cycle
- Spring Practice
They want to make these processes smoother and less disruptive for teams and players. It’s all part of a bigger shift in college sports governance, with power conferences like the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC getting more influence on the NCAA’s oversight committees.
Transfer Portal: A Complex Puzzle
The transfer portal might be the trickiest piece. Last season, the portal opened on December 9, and a lot of people weren’t happy with that timing.
Penn State’s backup quarterback, Beau Pribula, entered the portal just as the team was gearing up for a playoff game. That move really put the calendar’s flaws on display.
Most coaches and administrators seem to prefer a single transfer window in early January. But that could clash with the College Football Playoff (CFP) quarterfinals and semifinals.
The Big Ten, on the other hand, thinks April or May would work better. Washington coach Jedd Fisch has said a spring window would cut down on player departures, since it avoids the chaos right after the season ends.
Impact on Spring Practice
The timing of the transfer portal messes with spring practice, too. If players can’t transfer until April or May, spring practice might lose its purpose, since the roster could change dramatically afterward.
To fix this, the working group is kicking around the idea of ditching spring practice altogether and trying out NFL-style OTAs (organized team activities) instead.
Recruiting Cycle: Shifting Signing Day
They’re also talking about moving National Signing Day for high school recruits to the summer. That would help teams set payrolls earlier in the revenue-sharing era.
But if they move Signing Day, they’ll have to coordinate it with other calendar changes to avoid even more headaches.
Challenges and Considerations
The working group has a lot to juggle. One big issue is the possible expansion of the College Football Playoff to 16 teams in 2026.
If that happens, opening-round games would land on the second Saturday of December—the same day as the Army-Navy game and the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
They also have to think about how these changes would affect the bowl system and when the regular season starts. Kicking off the season a week earlier, before Labor Day weekend, could send shockwaves through the sport.
Interwoven Issues
Everything in this calendar overhaul ties together. The transfer portal affects recruiting, which then impacts spring practice.
The academic calendar adds another layer of complication. A single January transfer window might not work for schools with different enrollment dates.
On the flip side, a spring transfer window would mean players stick around campus for months, knowing they’re leaving. That could open the door to a whole new level of tampering—something nobody really wants to see.
Looking Ahead
The working group plans to show its models to power conference executives by the end of August. After that, those executives will decide which changes to roll out.
For more details on what’s shifting in college football, check out the original article on Mercury News.
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