I just fixed the NCAA transfer rule

MeanGreenZen · June 25, 2022

The current one-time transfer exception is not good for college football. Even professional athletes have contracts that bind them to teams for certain time periods and allow organizations a fair opportunity to build a winning roster.

A transfer model must be adopted that offers athletes the option to explore other opportunities, but still incentivizes schools to invest in and develop players.

I propose a model where all players have the opportunity to transfer and be immediately eligible AFTER they have accumulated the equivalent of 60 credit hours at their current institution AND again after they graduate (if they still have eligibility remaining).

If a player declines to transfer when they hit the 60 hours, that player loses the opportunity to transfer and be eligible immediately until they are a grad transfer.

Any player may elect to transfer during the transfer window at ANY point in their career, but transferring before or after your “free” 60 hour transfer or “free” grad transfer will cause you to sit out a year AND lose a year of eligibility.

Hardship waivers are no longer available for anyone. If your dog gets sick and you want to transfer, too bad. If someone in your social studies class looks at you funny, too bad. If your favorite coach gets hired somewhere else, too bad. You can still transfer during any transfer window, but there are consequences for doing so outside of your “free” opportunities.

The transfer window also opens and closes in the spring. Let’s say it is open from February 15-April 15.

If you opt to explore your transfer option when you are eligible, you cannot participate in offseason workouts or spring football at your current school and you must sign with your new school by X date to be eligible for the next football season.

If you do not sign by X date, you must wait until the next year’s transfer window and lose a year of eligibility or you may drop down a level to Juco, FCS, DII, DIII and be eligible immediately.

The 60 hours must be accumulated AT the current institution. If you graduate high school with 30 hours of college credit, that doesn’t count. Everyone starts at 0 towards the transfer requirement when they enroll at their school.

This proposed transfer model allows players who fulfill their obligations as student athletes the freedom to fulfill their athletic potential while also rewarding schools for the investments they make in these players to adequately plan and build winning rosters.

untphd · June 25, 2022

Sounds good to me.

MeanGreen_MBA · June 25, 2022

55 minutes ago, MeanGreenZen said:

The current one-time transfer exception is not good for college football. Even professional athletes have contracts that bind them to teams for certain time periods and allow organizations a fair opportunity to build a winning roster.

A transfer model must be adopted that offers athletes the option to explore other opportunities, but still incentivizes schools to invest in and develop players.

I propose a model where all players have the opportunity to transfer and be immediately eligible AFTER they have accumulated the equivalent of 60 credit hours at their current institution AND again after they graduate (if they still have eligibility remaining).

If a player declines to transfer when they hit the 60 hours, that player loses the opportunity to transfer and be eligible immediately until they are a grad transfer.

Any player may elect to transfer during the transfer window at ANY point in their career, but transferring before or after your “free” 60 hour transfer or “free” grad transfer will cause you to sit out a year AND lose a year of eligibility.

Hardship waivers are no longer available for anyone. If your dog gets sick and you want to transfer, too bad. If someone in your social studies class looks at you funny, too bad. If your favorite coach gets hired somewhere else, too bad. You can still transfer during any transfer window, but there are consequences for doing so outside of your “free” opportunities.

The transfer window also opens and closes in the spring. Let’s say it is open from February 15-April 15.

If you opt to explore your transfer option when you are eligible, you cannot participate in offseason workouts or spring football at your current school and you must sign with your new school by X date to be eligible for the next football season.

If you do not sign by X date, you must wait until the next year’s transfer window and lose a year of eligibility or you may drop down a level to Juco, FCS, DII, DIII and be eligible immediately.

The 60 hours must be accumulated AT the current institution. If you graduate high school with 30 hours of college credit, that doesn’t count. Everyone starts at 0 towards the transfer requirement when they enroll at their school.

This proposed transfer model allows players who fulfill their obligations as student athletes the freedom to fulfill their athletic potential while also rewarding schools for the investments they make in these players to adequately plan and build winning rosters.

I can get behind this. Good work.

Venson · June 25, 2022

I like that. What about a kid who after their first semester or 15 hours, the coaches have decided he is not a good fit and really want to push him out the door to make room for another scholarship player? Are they beholden to that kid until 60 hours?

NT80 · June 25, 2022

34 minutes ago, Venson said:

I like that. What about a kid who after their first semester or 15 hours, the coaches have decided he is not a good fit and really want to push him out the door to make room for another scholarship player? Are they beholden to that kid until 60 hours?

I would allow for something like an athlete/current coach mutual agreement or permission to join the portal early as a solution. A family or medical issue, grades, poor fit, whatever, just an agreed-on waiver to join the portal.

Edited June 25, 2022 by NT80

meangreen11 · June 25, 2022

Great idea and I would support this 100%

UNT18Grad · June 25, 2022

I agree some restrictions over the timing of free transfers needs to be implemented, but this is just silly and you guys hold 19 year olds to much higher standards than yourself. Your reasoning that athletes need to stay where they decide to go when they are 17/18 years old and nobody else has to is what? The school is offering them a scholarship so they should be forced to stay? Do you think students on academic scholarships should have the same limits?

The extremely large majority of student athletes transferring schools is because they aren't getting playing time, many find the grass isn't always greener on the other side but they should have that right to do that if they want.

You mentioned professional athletes as a comparison to these students, but forgot to mention the biggest difference..they are getting paid. A scholarship is not payment and never will be. Why should athletic scholarships be viewed any differently than academic or band or anything else? When an athlete transfers they lose their scholarship and it's up to another institution to determine if they are worth another one, just like any other student.

And no hardship waivers?? You have to be kidding. I totally agree the waiver program is broken, and more often than not the NCAA passes waivers for transfers to bigger schools regardless of the reason. But to rob a kid who has a dying parent or loved one of the opportunity to be closer to their family is absurd.

Everyone here is passionate about UNT I get that, and losing a player like KD at this time of year sucks and those people who tampered with him should be punished. But if he had left 3+ months ago I wouldn't be upset and none of you should be either. Lots of hurt feelings around here simply because we lost a good player, but I didn't see anyone crying about the system when we landed transfers from Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, LA Tech, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Alabama, the list goes on and on.

El Paso Eagle · June 25, 2022

Not a bad idea to see something that actually put some focus on making sure the students get an education. Honestly with players transferring as often as they do nowadays I'm not clear on how the players are actually ever completing School

DeepGreen · June 25, 2022

I like it a lot! Good work. Have you Copyrighted your idea, and is it on the way to the NCAA?

RBP79 · June 25, 2022

So NCAA HMF in charge Emmert is stepping down after screwing everything up. So will the Board of Governors and new guy try to reign in some of his bad ideas?

I'm not holding my breath....

NT80 · June 26, 2022

7 hours ago, UNT18Grad said:

I agree some restrictions over the timing of free transfers needs to be implemented, but this is just silly and you guys hold 19 year olds to much higher standards than yourself. Your reasoning that athletes need to stay where they decide to go when they are 17/18 years old and nobody else has to is what? The school is offering them a scholarship so they should be forced to stay?

A scholarship is a contract, which includes stipulations. So is joining the Marines, or buying a car, or getting married, etc. They can quit the contract, but there could be penalties. Time for them to grow up, or don't sign a contract!

outoftown · June 26, 2022

16 hours ago, NT80 said:

I would allow for something like an athlete/current coach mutual agreement or permission to join the portal early as a solution. A family or medical issue, grades, poor fit, whatever, just an agreed-on waiver to join the portal.

No. If you do that, then that agreement will have to be made anytime a player wants to leave. If you do not as a coach, it will be such that players will talk among themselves and say "coach X denies you new opportunities".

The fact is simple: schools/coaches need players to commit. But in the future any rule change that wants to achieve this needs to make sure that this cannot be a one-way street. Said commitment also needs to be made and valid for schools/coaches toward the player and incur significant risks/costs if they want to break it. A bad fit needs to punish both school and player for some time, so everyone pays extra care to not take either side for granted.

Edited June 26, 2022 by outoftown

UNT18Grad · June 26, 2022

11 hours ago, NT80 said:

A scholarship is a contract, which includes stipulations. So is joining the Marines, or buying a car, or getting married, etc. They can quit the contract, but there could be penalties. Time for them to grow up, or don't sign a contract!

Did you really just equate marriage or military service to playing college football? If you actually feel those are even remotely close to the same level of commitment then you're just out of touch with reality.

The easiest comparison to playing college football is getting a job. I would be impressed if you have worked the same job your entire life, but I'm guessing like nearly every person you have left jobs for better or different opportunities whether that is more pay, better fit, family reasons, location, etc. If you choose to leave your job then sure there are "penalties", you lose your pay and benefits, there is no guarantee you will find another job, etc...sounds kind of like choosing to give up your scholarship right?

Regardless, I expect this to be your stance on transfer recruits in the future, they need to grow up and stick with their original school right? And when the time comes to replace Littrell I will expect you to be pissed because we are hiring a coach away from another school and that new coach is breaking his contract to his previous school. You can't be mad about the process when it hurts UNT, but look the other way when it benefits us.

UNTLifer · June 26, 2022

Like it, appreciate the time you out in this little project but the NCAA would neither endorse nor enforce this because it makes too much sense.

NT80 · June 26, 2022

2 hours ago, UNT18Grad said:

Did you really just equate marriage or military service to playing college football? If you actually feel those are even remotely close to the same level of commitment then you're just out of touch with reality.

They are all commitments. Sorry if you don't think players should be held accountable for their actions, but they are. At what age do you think it's ok for them to be treated and act like adults?? Welcome to the real world...

UNT18Grad · June 26, 2022

42 minutes ago, NT80 said:

They are all commitments. Sorry if you don't think players should be held accountable for their actions, but they are. At what age do you think it's ok for them to be treated and act like adults?? Welcome to the real world...

So you're confirming that you have worked the same job your entire life like an adult who stands by their commitment? You made a commitment to take on that job when you were what 15? 18? You're a person who stands by his word and doesn't break any type of commitment so I can respect that you're still working there or maybe you've recently retired. If your username is your graduation year then I am truly impressed, very few people stick with the same job for around 50 years even after graduating from college while working there, so kudos to you.

You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, but again I will expect this same type of feedback from you next time we land a transfer from another school or next time the athletic department hires a coach who is currently working at another school. You can compare this to a job, marriage or whatever, but within the college football building there are players, coaches, trainers, administrators, etc. Why are the players the only ones who should be held to your standards?

Edited June 26, 2022 by UNT18Grad

NT80 · June 26, 2022

2 hours ago, UNT18Grad said:

So you're confirming that you have worked the same job your entire life like an adult who stands by their commitment? You made a commitment to take on that job when you were what 15? 18? You're a person who stands by his word and doesn't break any type of commitment so I can respect that you're still working there or maybe you've recently retired. If your username is your graduation year then I am truly impressed, very few people stick with the same job for around 50 years even after graduating from college while working there, so kudos to you.

You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, but again I will expect this same type of feedback from you next time we land a transfer from another school or next time the athletic department hires a coach who is currently working at another school. You can compare this to a job, marriage or whatever, but within the college football building there are players, coaches, trainers, administrators, etc. Why are the players the only ones who should be held to your standards?

I had/have several jobs, one for 35 years with the same employer. Never had to sign a contract with any of them. I could quit whenever I wanted. An athletic scholarship, however, does require a contract, and a firm commitment on the part of both the school and the athlete. It's really not as hard to understand as you're making it out to be.

meangreenfaninno · June 26, 2022

4 minutes ago, NT80 said:

I had/have several jobs, one for 35 years with the same employer. Never had to sign a contract with any of them. I could quit whenever I wanted. An athletic scholarship, however, does require a contract, and a firm commitment on the part of both the school and the athlete. It's really not as hard to understand as you're making it out to be.

I tend to agree. Especially now it is not fair to take a spot someone else wants.

DentonLurker · June 26, 2022

Aren’t scholarships renewed annually? So really you’re talking about a one year “contract” anyway.

UNT18Grad · June 26, 2022

2 hours ago, NT80 said:

I had/have several jobs, one for 35 years with the same employer. Never had to sign a contract with any of them. I could quit whenever I wanted. An athletic scholarship, however, does require a contract, and a firm commitment on the part of both the school and the athlete. It's really not as hard to understand as you're making it out to be.

With the ease of transferring it would appear your own personal definition of a firm commitment is actually not required, correct? A player can sign his "contract" and 6 months later leave and go to another school with no negative consequences all while never breaking any rules. If it was against the terms of the contract how are so many players transferring and not being punished in any way?

You may disagree with the currently written rules, but acting like some type of binding contract is being broken when a player transfers is not reality. You don't get to apply your own personal definition of commitment and contract to things when you can clearly see that's not how things work.

It's clear we just have differing opinions on this and that's fine, world would be a boring place if everyone agreed all the time. All I ask is that you keep this same mentality when we hire a new coach or bring in a new transfer player, and that goes for everyone else on here who feels the same.

Edited June 26, 2022 by UNT18Grad

NT80 · June 27, 2022

1 hour ago, UNT18Grad said:

A player can sign his "contract" and 6 months later leave and go to another school with no negative consequences all while never breaking any rules. If it was against the terms of the contract how are so many players transferring and not being punished in any way?

You are correct, in part. Your example is allowed by the new rules. It hasn't changed that it is a binding scholarship contract. After transfer the athlete would still become committed to their new school (new scholarship) for the duration of their undergrad eligibility, unless transferring again with more restrictions on the second transfer. Someone above suggested additional rules to correct the current new rules to rein in some of the poaching from other programs. That's all this is about. Carry on.

rcade · June 27, 2022

On 6/25/2022 at 10:49 PM, NT80 said:

A scholarship is a contract, which includes stipulations. So is joining the Marines, or buying a car, or getting married, etc. They can quit the contract, but there could be penalties. Time for them to grow up, or don't sign a contract!

You didn't compare the contract to a job, which is a comparison that fits much closer than a marriage or military service. Anyone can quit a job and the only penalty is that their old employer stops paying them and providing benefits.

NT80 · June 27, 2022

1 hour ago, rcade said:

You didn't compare the contract to a job, which is a comparison that fits much closer than a marriage or military service. Anyone can quit a job and the only penalty is that their old employer stops paying them and providing benefits.

I consider military a job. I don't know any regular jobs that require an employee sign an employment contract about duration; perhaps a teacher. The whole point of any commitment contract (athletic, military, car, whatever) is agreement to perform a task in exchange for an item or pay and/or benefits (schooling, etc).

Edited June 27, 2022 by NT80

rcade · June 27, 2022

1 hour ago, NT80 said:

I consider military a job.

It's different than a job because you can't just quit. If I walk out during my shift at Hot Dog on a Stick and don't come back for 30 days nobody will arrest me for desertion.