After Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz noted that Iowa State football’s transfer situation is an “absolute crisis”, another fellow prominent national Republican has shared the very same sentiments on social media. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis shared the same post that Cruz shared this week, and simply noted, “Reform is needed.”
Iowa State football has lost over 40 players to the transfer portal since Matt Campbell left for the job opening at Penn State. Iowa State is getting some good news this week with the Cyclones making some additions and adding some commitments, including players who were previously committed to Rogers at Washington State. But it doesn’t change the bigger picture and the problems that exist for many programs around the country, and that is a decimation of their teams when a coach leaves. But not even that, we continue to see record numbers of players bounce from one team to another year after year in a model that certainly isn’t sustainable.
It’s harder than ever to predict, and the days of watching young players enter a program as wide-eyed freshman, and graduate as senior veterans are done. That was part of the charm of college sports for decades. Now, it feels like it’s all gone.
Times Changing in College Football
And while the transfer portal is not the main reason for the issues the big-money sports face at the college level, it’s certainly not helping the cause. Eventually, fans will throw their hands up, be tired of donating their hard-earned money to a player who has absolutely zero loyalty to the university, and say, enough is enough.
When is that breaking point? No one knows. And in the meantime, the crazy continues.
This is one of the reasons I highlighted TCU safety Bud Clark in my Top 3 takeaways from TCU’s win over USC in the Alamo Bowl on Tuesday night. Watching guys come into a program, redshirt, and develop into an All-Conference player feels like a thing of the past. And that’s because by and large, it is.
Is Congress required to solve it? Considering how poorly the NCAA and the sports themselves have done governing themselves, I suppose Congress might be the only answer. That’s a scary proposition, but it might be all we’ve got.
