If Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day wants support for his transfer portal stance, he better look elsewhere than from SEC head coaches.
On Wednesday, LSU‘s Brian Kelly, Texas‘ Steve Sarkisian and others offered a retort after Day railed against the idea of a single transfer portal window in January during the College Football Playoff the previous say.
Per ESPN college football reporter Max Olson, Kelly told reporters that SEC coaches were unanimous in wanting a January transfer portal, as opposed to one in March or April, which has the support of Big Ten coaches.
Last week, the SEC’s preference came closer to becoming reality when the FBS oversight committee approved a measure establishing a single 10-day window for players to enter the portal, which would be from Jan. 2-11 in 2026. As Olson noted, the Division I Administrative Committee will give a final vote on the issue by the end of the September.
On Tuesday, Day decried the potential move, lamenting the difficulty in navigating the transfer portal while the country’s top teams compete for a national championship.
“I just don’t quite understand how teams that are playing in the playoffs are expected to make the decisions and sign their upcoming players while they’re still getting ready to play for games,” Day said.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” he continued. (h/t ESPN)
In response, Kelly said, “I mean, there’s no crying on the yacht,” a sentiment also shared by Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, who had his own reservations about a January portal, this past May.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables noted that it would be best for players planning to leave to be able to transfer to their next college sooner rather than later, saying, “The kids have made decisions anyway. Let’s get a window that makes sense for everybody to both recruit, evaluate and still be able to get them into school.”
Sarkisian described Day’s gripe as “champagne problems.”
“That means you’ve got a pretty good team,” he added. “I think for the betterment of the sport, that’s the right window,” Sarkisian said of the potential 10-day January opening.
With most spring college semesters beginning in mid-January, it makes sense to have a portal at the beginning of the month. While inconvenient for teams like Ohio State, those programs aren’t going to fall to the wayside because worse teams were able to focus their attention on the portal. Although after the Buckeyes went 2-0 against the SEC in last year’s College Football Playoff, SEC coaches might hope they will.
