The NCAA’s transfer rules regarding college football are relatively extensive, but they could be changing soon which could change the sport’s landscape.
There are many reasons to transfer from a program. One, the coach didn’t keep promises he made during a recruitment. Two, the coach has been fired or took a job elsewhere. Three, a player feels as though he’s buried too deep on the depth chart. And four, homesickness is a real thing for college kids.
For the longest time, college football transfers were forced to sit out a year before becoming eligible to join their new teams. Nowadays, there are exceptions to every rule and some kids don’t even have to sit at all.
Those rules could be shifted even more, which would change the entire college football landscape, according to an NCAA.
Michael Wayne Bratton of Saturday Down South reported on the topic and laid out all the proposed transfer rule changes that will be voted on in June and will be backed by the Transfer Working Group.
- Transfers would not need permission from former schools to transfer to any potential future opponent. Essentially, the former schools would not be free to block destinations.
- Immediate eligibility depending on academic requirements being met.
- A student-athlete would be allowed to play immediately given that the coach they signed with at a certain program has since left the program.
- Graduate transfers will still be allowed to play immediately, but if they enroll in two-year graduate programs at their new school, it will count against a program’s scholarship number for two seasons.
These proposed rule changes could have a major effect on the college football landscape and it would have already helped Shea Patterson at Michigan. He has not yet been cleared by the NCAA since transferring from Ole Miss following a bowl ban and Hugh Freeze’s departure.
Next: NFL Mock Draft 2018: First round post pro days, trades
Keep an eye on the vote in June as these proposed changes could mold the entire transfer market as we know it.