One of the more polarizing aspects of today’s college football is the transfer portal. Players tend to love it as it gives them freedom to move to a program that may be able to provide more playing time, a better situation, better NIL or all of the above. Fans and, to a degree, the programs themselves generally hate the portal as last year’s roster will look nothing like this year’s.
For coaches, the portal is a double edged sword. They lose the players they want to keep for next season but they also use the portal to nudge players off the roster to free up scholarships.
The 2025 Spring transfer portal window is now closed. Many programs used lucrative NIL deals to sign as many highly recruited transfers as possible. Below are the winners and losers of the 2025 Spring transfer portal window.
Winners
Texas Tech Red Raiders:
When you have an influx of cash coming into the program to secure NIL deals from people like billionaire Cody Campbell, you’re going to get the players you want in the portal. According to the On3 Sports transfer portal rankings, Texas Tech has added 13 Four-Star transfers, the most of any program. Players such as Stanford EDGE David Bailey, UCF DL Lee Hunter and USC RB Quinten Joyner have joined the Red Raiders for the 2025 season. The jewel of the class is Bailey, who had 7 sacks and 5 forced fumbles for Stanford in 2024.
LSU Tigers:
The Tigers were second only to Texas Tech in Four-Star transfers coming in. On3 Sports has the Tigers getting 11 Four-Star transfers while 247Sports has ranked 12 of the new Tigers as Four-Star. 16 of LSU’s 18 incoming transfers come from Power 4 schools. It appears an emphasis was placed on getting help in the secondary. Two cornerbacks and two safeties were brought in, all were Four-Star transfers and all came from Power 4 schools. Safeties AJ Haulcy from Houston and Tamarcus Cooley from NC State, along with cornerbacks Mansoor Delane from Virginia Tech and Ja’Keem Jackson from Florida will help make up the new LSU secondary in 2025.
Ole Miss Rebels:
Lane Kiffin’s Rebels are winners in the portal mostly because of the volume of transfers they have acquired. There will be 29 new Ole Miss Rebels on the 2025 roster who were part of another program in 2024. Kiffin is looking to bolster the receiver room as 5 of the incoming transfers are wide receivers, all of which are from Power 4 schools. De’Zhaun Stribling from Oklahoma State and Caleb Odom from Alabama headline the newest Rebel receivers. 10 of the new Rebels were rated as Four-Star transfers by 247 Sports.
Losers
Purdue Boilermakers:
In the transfer portal world, when a head coach leaves or gets fired you can expect a mass exodus from the program. Purdue fired head coach Ryan Walters on December 1, 2024, just two seasons into his tenure at Purdue. Since that time, 56 Boilermakers have left the program. Purdue hired UNLV head coach Barry Odom, who has brought in 49 players from the transfer portal. Look for another rough season in West Lafayette, IN.
Washington State Cougars:
Another victim of a coach leaving, the Cougars have seen 44 players hit the transfer portal since the announcement of coach Jake Dickert taking the job at Wake Forest. Washington State replaced Dickert with Jimmy Rogers, who has since added 33 portal players. Rogers is taking a step up from FCS South Dakota State, this may be a rough transition into the FBS having to replace 44 players.
Florida Gators:
No matter which industry source you use, Florida is the lowest ranked program in the SEC. Head coach Billy Napier saw 20 former Gators hit the portal and leave the program. The quantity of players Napier signed through the portal, six total, is not necessarily the issue, it is the quality. According to On3 Sports, none of the players signed by Florida is considered a Four-Star transfer. 247 Sports lists only former UCLA wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant as a Four-Star transfer. On the other side of the coin, 247 Sports shows the Gators losing six players in the portal who are considered Four-Star transfers. That is not a good formula for a program trying to vie for a spot in the SEC Championship Game.
(photo courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics)