Roster management a difficult juggling act for West Virginia, schools
Neal Brown has a red folder on his desk at all times.
The contents of that serve as an outline for roster management for the program. Inside it are the current scholarship numbers, high school signees, the depth chart and what the program is looking for in the transfer portal in order to fill out their needs.
As you can imagine with so much constant movement, it’s an ever-changing document.
“It’s so fluid. It’s so flowing,” Brown said.
While college programs might have a feel on where they stand once the transfer portal opens and players enter into it, that could change drastically toward the backend of the window when some could exit after bowl games or graduation.
So, trying to find the balance between how many high school players and transfers a program could pursue is difficult due to how much it’s moving at all times. But it could become even more challenging if the two-time transfer rule is eventually overturned.
The NCAA grants a free one-time transfer without penalty for all student-athletes, but the second requires a waiver to suit up at their next stop. That is currently being challenged in court and there is a preliminary injunction set through the duration of spring sports in order to allow student-athletes to suit up in their respective sports.
“If you add a second transfer into this you’re basically saying everybody is a free agent every time the transfer portal opens,” Brown said. “Good luck.”
Related: West Virginia football transfer portal tracker
Brown believes the issue is one under a bigger problem that comes with the way that the calendar is currently structured. It forces college teams to prepare for postseason play, close up their current recruiting class with the early signing window and navigate the transfer portal both with retaining their current roster as well as targeting needs all at the same time.
“There’s a lot going on,” Brown said.
The overall product in the game has never been better with fans tuning into regular season and bowl games in droves, but there are still plenty of issues. Brown believes that football has essentially grown into its own entity outside the NCAA umbrella when it comes to travel and other aspects.
“Who are we kidding? We’re going to send our soccer team to Arizona for a midweek game? Come on. I think there are some real issues,” Brown said.
The sport operates on a calendar based around academics, while the reality is that college football has been shifting more and more toward a professional model. Currently, many teams are turning over around a third of their roster every off-season and that total could increase.
That could also present challenges with the expansion of the College Football Playoff to feature 12 teams instead of the current setup of just 4. Already even with players that are set to play in the CFP some are being forced to decide to leave their team to take advantage of their best opportunity at their next school given the layout of the calendar.
And while Brown doesn’t have a solution, one is certainly necessary moving forward.
“It’s not a good process,” he said.
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