An introduction to the Big Ten football transfer portal: What to expect when the spring window opens

College football's transfer portal reopens on Tuesday and closes on April 30, giving players the option to find new landing spots and giving teams a chance to shore up talent gaps heading into the fall. Given.

As of Sunday morning, 18 schools in the Big Ten had 299 football players entered the transfer portal in the previous cycle, according to player entries compiled by On3 and compiled by On3. The Athletic. These numbers reflect the 2023-2024 cycle, which began on December 4, 2023 and ended on January 2, 2024, with the season ending in January and/or with different coaches. It will continue through this spring for players who entered the portal after leaving for jobs or graduating. transfer.

Of those transfers, 217 found new homes, 29 left the portal and two selected the NFL Draft. These schools added 153 enrollments or admissions during that cycle.

* 1 person from Iowa State MSU will be added to the portal.

Here are some Big Ten Portal issues and topics to know about before the spring window opens.

QB movement — A second wave of quarterbacks is expected to arrive in the portal this week or after spring practice. Wisconsin backup Nick Evers announced Saturday that he will enter the portal, and more players could follow.

Ohio State is a team to watch with five quarterbacks owning four- or five-star recruiting or transfer ratings. They include Will Howard, a transfer from Kansas State, junior Devin Brown, sophomore Lincoln Kienholz and true freshmen Julian Sain and Air Noland. Howard and Brown appear to be the frontrunners, and both have seen action this spring. The Buckeyes face this situation almost every year, and it wouldn't surprise anyone to see at least one, possibly two, quarterbacks leave this week.

During the last cycle, 23 quarterbacks left Big Ten programs. Quarterbacks who arrived during the last portal cycle included Howard and Thayne (Alabama signee), Indiana's Curtis Rourke (Ohio State), Maryland's MJ Morris (North Carolina State), and Michigan State's They include Aidan Chiles (Oregon State) and Tommy Schuster (North Dakota State), as well as Minnesota's Max Brosmer. (New Hampshire) and Logan Fife (Fresno State), Oregon State's Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma State) and Dante Moore (UCLA), Rutgers' Ahsan Kaliakmanis (Minnesota State), and University of Southern California's Jayden Maiava (UNLV). ), Washington State's Will Rogers (Mississippi State) and Damond Williams (Arizona signee) and Wisconsin's Tyler Van Dyke (Miami).

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new coach — Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA and Washington State have new coaches this spring, with Northwestern's David Brown promoted from interim to full-time coach. The Spartans (31), Hoosiers (30) and Huskies (26) had more than his 20 ejections, while the University of Michigan (15) and his UCLA (18) late opener Various levels of attrition were observed.

The Wolverines and Huskies played for a national title and had very different offseasons. With the promotion of Sherone Moore from assistant to head coach to replace Jim Harbaugh, Michigan has largely stabilized after losing five games to Power 4 schools (LB Joey Velazquez to Ohio State, safety Keon – Subs to Alabama, cornerback Cameron Calhoun to Utah, cornerback Amorion Walker to Ole), tight end Matthew Hibner to SMU).

Washington's Jed Fisch replaced Karen DeBoer, who departed for Alabama after the national title game. The Huskies had perhaps the most inconsistent January of any program. When Fisch left Arizona for Washington, he brought with him eight Wildcats and a ninth, former Indiana cornerback Jordan Shaw, who had previously committed to Arizona. Washington ultimately had 26 players leave, 14 added, and six players remained after leaving the portal.

Northwestern University (No. 10) only had one addition during the previous period, but its quarterly academic calendar makes it difficult for the school to bring in mid-year transfers. Traditionally, Northwestern does much better with late spring additions.

UCLA has hired Deshaun Foster, the greatest running back of all time, from within to replace former head coach Chip Kelly, who left the Bruins to become offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

Three true newcomers as head coaches brought in several former players. Like Fisch, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti also signed 10 players from James Madison. Michigan State's Jonathan Smith brought in two of Oregon State's key players, Chiles and tight end Jack Belling, but convinced 10 Spartans to remain with the program.

Change assistant –When it comes to player acquisition, the new coordinator could have as much influence as the head coach. Among the offensive coordinators who could influence the move are Kelly, Iowa's Tim Lester, Penn State's Andy Kotelnicki and Northwestern's Zach Lujan. On the defensive end, keep an eye on Michigan's Wink Martindale, Penn State's Tom Allen (former Indiana University head coach), and Southern California's Danton Lin.

The number of scholarships is tight — Several schools, most notably Penn State and Iowa, currently have more than 90 scholarship players and should reach 85 by August. Both have the potential to add players to the portal. However, both schools had the lowest number of expulsions (Iowa, seven) and the second-fewest (Penn State, eight) last cycle, so there will be multiple expulsions this spring.

In-meeting transfer — All but two programs in the Big Ten have added players from within their conference, for a total of 29 players. Purdue added the most (four), and neither Northwestern nor Iowa recruited players from the same Big Ten organization.

Note — However, the total number of intraconference transfers is marked with an asterisk. Former Purdue receiver TJ Sheffield has committed to Michigan State, but is looking for a new career. In addition, tackle Kaydin Proctor transferred from Alabama to Iowa State in January and left the Hawkeyes before spring practice began last month in hopes of returning to the Tide. These numbers are listed as additions for the Spartans and Hawkeyes, but will change this week. Furthermore, Evers' departure has not yet been determined.

(Curtis Rourke photo: Rich Janczark/Herald Times/USA Today)