It has been no secret that since the end of the 2018-19 college football season, Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide have gotten bit by the transfer portal bug. Since the end of last year, there has been a total of nine players who have put their names in the portal. Most notably quarterback Jalen Hurts who decided to transfer to Oklahoma. Even though the tide has seen a number of players enter the portal Saban still see’s it as something good for athletes at its core.
“I think the spirit of the transfer portal in and of itself is a positive thing for players,” said Saban. “You know I think when we started with the transfer portal, it was a mechanism for players to be able to say I’m transferring, so everybody knows I’m transferring, so if that creates opportunities for me to go places, then that’s a good thing for the player.”
Saban’s comments ring home here, especially when he brings up how a player can announce that he is looking to transfer and can let the whole country know. This benefited Alabama when they were able to get former Florida State offensive lineman Landon Dickerson to choose them after putting his name in. But even with landing the former four-star recruit Saban still has some criticisms of the portal.
“The issue with the transfer portal is we’ve gotten very liberal in giving people waivers, so when we do that, it becomes free agency, which I don’t think is good for college football. I don’t think it’s good for fans,” said Saban.
The head coach also brought up how he would potentially change the portal and adjust how quickly players would be able to play after joining a new school.
“So, in my opinion, if we’re going to have a transfer portal that’s good for the players, then we ought to have a rule that says, regardless of what happens when you transfer, you have to sit out a year. That’s how it’s been for years and years,” said Saban. “So we make commitments to players for four years. They make commitments to us to be in our program. It may not work out for everybody and they may have a better opportunity someplace else, but if they have to sit out for a year, it would be a consequence for them in terms of their commitment.”
Another interesting point Saban brings up, is how the school makes a four-year commitment to the player and then all of a sudden they can pack their bags and walk out the door to play at another school right away. From that point of view, it isn’t very fair to the coaches. They invest so much time in recruiting and aren’t planning to lose some of these guys who are their top recruits.
If anything should be taken away from these comments on the portal it’s that it is still an imperfect system that is trying to help benefit both sides.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
