“It's gonna completely gut some of your teams” - Josh Pate breaks silence on harsh reality of "no-rule transfer portal era" ahead of 2024 spring games

The 2024 college football season is slowly approaching with spring games on the horizon, and later this month, the transfer portal will also reopen. But unlike the previous openings, this portal will follow the new rules, which may make it extremely unpredictable.

Josh Pate, a college football journalist and host of the "Late Kick Live" podcast, spoke about the "harsh, violent reality" of the new look transfer portal.

"You are about to see the harsh, violent reality of the no-rules transfer portal era in full display later this month," Pate said. "I'm not overstating this: It will be the wildest transfer portal era that you've ever seen. And it's gonna completely gut some of your teams."

The New Transfer Portal Rules

Pate has made this prediction due to the changes in the rules that the NCAA has made to the transfer portal, particularly concerning players who have already transferred during their career.

Previously, if a player had already transferred to a program, and then decided to transfer again to a third program during their career, they would not be allowed to play for that program until the following season. In simple terms, such players had to sit out for a year.

This rule worked, as being forced to not play for a year was seen as a strong deterrent. Missing one year may be the difference between a player making it to the NFL or not, and that prospect was strong enough to prevent players from doing so.

However, changes have now been made. The NCAA has decided to drop the forced one-year rule, and now there are no consequences for a player transferring to a third program in their career as they will be immediately eligible to play.

This can essentially allow a player who is not happy at their second school to transfer to as many schools as they like with no impact on their athletic career.

Will the new transfer portal rules help the players?

College football recruitment and the transfer portal have had to adapt in recent years due to the introduction of the name, image and likeness ruling.

The NIL allows players to make money from the use of their likenesses and has shattered the NCAA's view that college athletes are "student-athletes" who have been rewarded with education.

The new transfer portal rules now allow for players who are unhappy with their NIL deal to move to another program that could give them a better opportunity for a deal. But does allowing this help the players?

"Is (transferring for a new deal) wonderful for the kid? I guess it is short term," Josh Pate said.

While the players could benefit financially from this, their football and education careers might not, as they are now in a different school that uses a different play scheme, one that may not suit them, and they have to adapt to this.

But as there are no consequences to moving again, after one year, they'll be off to another school to do the whole process again.

This will not help the athletes become better players and will add more pressure onto the head coaches, who will now have to deal with players who they thought would be definite starters for their team, leaving as they have found a better deal somewhere else.

Do you think that the new rules are going to help college football?