NCAA proposes eliminating football’s spring transfer window

College football’s spring transfer period is officially in danger of being eliminated after the NCAA’s FBS and FCS oversight committees recommended the sport move to a single offseason notification-of-transfer window.

Under their proposal, the 30-day transfer window in December would become the lone opportunity for FBS and FCS players to enter their name in the transfer portal and seek a new school. For the past two years, the transfer portal has also opened for a 15-day window in April.

The Division I Council will meet in October to determine whether it will adopt the proposal, which reduces the total number of days when student-athletes can transfer from 45 to 30.

If approved, the change would take effect for the 2024-25 school year. The December transfer window will open on the Monday after conference title games and extend from Dec. 9 through Jan. 7. The NCAA cited a focus on promoting “roster stability for student-athletes and their programs” in its release regarding the proposal.

This year, more than 900 FBS scholarship players entered the portal in the month of April after the NCAA was forced to drop its one-time transfer restrictions. The 2023-24 portal cycle saw a record-breaking number of transactions yet again, with more than 2,700 FBS scholarship transfers.

Players whose teams are competing in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff or in the FCS playoffs would still get a five-day exemption to enter the portal after their season has concluded. Players have also been able to take advantage of a 30-day window to transfer in the event of a coaching change.

The football oversight committees also approved a blanket waiver for the 2024 season guaranteeing that players wishing to redshirt during the season are permitted to play in any postseason game — conference championships, bowl games, and College Football Playoff or FCS playoff games — without it counting toward their four-game limit.