Last week on The Triple Option podcast, Penn State head coach James Franklin made a bold and impassioned plea:
shut the college football transfer portal during the playoffs. It wasn’t just a passing comment—it was a rallying cry in defense of team stability, championship focus, and the welfare of young athletes.
️ Timing Is Everything
Imagine this: your team is locked in a brutal playoff battle. Practices, meetings, late-night film sessions consume every waking moment. Then suddenly, amidst that intensity, the transfer portal swings wide open. Coaches—Franklin among them—find themselves juggling two high-stakes tasks: preparing their current roster for postseason glory and persuading departing players to stay. As he explained, “I’m trying to retain my team during the playoffs… We should be totally focused on trying to win a championship and instead, I’m having conversations to try to keep the team together.”
The Pribula Precedent
Backup quarterback Beau Pribula is living proof of the problem’s severity. While Penn State was still alive in the College Football Playoff, Pribula entered the portal—leaving a gap at a crucial position if anything had happened to starter Drew Allar. Franklin voiced empathy for Pribula’s plight: the portal had trapped him in a “no-win situation.” Franklin’s response? Advocate for systemic change.
A Solution with Clarity
What Franklin proposes is simple: pause the portal until after the national championship—once the curtain falls on College Football, let the transfer window open. That way, players can plan their futures without compromising ongoing playoff campaigns. It’s a move designed to protect both team chemistry and individual student-athlete welfare.
Echoes Across the Game
He’s not alone in this. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti echoed similar frustrations—teams navigating playoff prep and roster changes in parallel, late nights juggling transfer calls and game plans. And Penn State’s situation isn’t isolated: deadlines often line up so poorly with the College Football playoff calendar that talented players are forced into tough choices mid-season.
Bigger Picture: Governance
Franklin didn’t stop at calendars. He raised a bigger question—who oversees college football? He suggested the sport needs a central commissioner, someone objective and unaligned with any single conference, to navigate the complexities of NIL, the portal, and playoff structure.
Why This Matters
- Team cohesion under siege: Coaches spend playoff season not just drawing up game plans, but persuading teammates to stay—not an ideal climate for winning championships.
- Student-athlete welfare: Players entering the portal mid-playoff are thrust into uncertainty at the worst possible time.
- Structural clarity: A commissioner could bring coherence to NIL, playoff, and transfer policies.
- Championship integrity: The portal shouldn’t interfere with deciding national champions—it should serve players, not sabotage teams.
Final Take
Franklin’s impassioned plea erupted into the conversation for good reason. It’s a problem every coach, player, and fan feels: opportunity for athletes should never come at the cost of sporting integrity or playoff intensity. His suggestion—a portal freeze until after the national championship and the appointment of a non-partisan commissioner—offers a powerful reset.
Whether the NCAA, conferences, or even Congress act remains to be seen. But if there’s a moment in college football that demands bold reform, it’s now—right in the heart of the playoff season.
