Just 24 hours before the start of the first expanded College Football Playoff, the NCAA is finding out how they allowed their own asylum to be shattered by the inmates.
With the transfer portal only being open from December 9-28, Sun Belt Conference Champions Marshall have opted out of their December 28 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl against Army. The decision came down on Saturday, after 36 Thundering Herd players entered the portal in the wake of head coach Charles Huff leaving for the same job at Southern Mississippi.
Thankfully for Army, Louisiana Tech stepped in to fill Marshall’s spot, despite the announcement coming while Army was being dominated by Navy on Saturday.
Marshall crushed Louisiana 31-3 in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game on December 7, but Huff announced he accepted the Southern Miss job the following day. Reports have confirmed that Marshall and Huff were unable to come to terms on a long-term contract extension. Huff, 41, led Marshall to bowl appearances each of his four years since taking over for Doc Holliday, and a 32-20 overall record. This season also saw Marshall win a conference championship for the first time since 2014, when still a member of Conference USA.
Marshall hired North Carolina State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson shortly after Huff’s departure, but this was too late to stop the bleeding with the players declaring for the transfer portal for Marshall to field a team to play Army. Florida State saw a mass exodus of players opt out of the Orange Bowl after being left out of the College Football Playoff, despite a perfect 13-0 record, and ACC Champions. Starting quarterback Jordan Travis missed the final two regular season games and the ACC Championship Game after breaking his leg, leading the CFP Committee to declare the Seminoles “a different team,” and undeserving enough to be in the playoff.
Players for the 12 teams in the playoff will have an additional five days from when their season ends to declare for the portal, meaning the two schools in the Championship Game will have up to January 25 to decide.
Marshall ended their season at 10-3, making them one of the lone teams to finish with double-digit wins, but not play in a postseason bowl game for something other than an NCAA violation. The school saw 36 players declare for the portal, 29 on scholarship. Going by the first two tiers of their depth chart, Marshall had 17 of 44 players opt out, including all three of their quarterbacks. Starter Braylon Braxton was named the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year after throwing 19 touchdowns to just two interceptions. The Thundering Herd had also finished on a seven game winning streak heading into the Independence Bowl, and will see a dramatic shift in the program going into 2025.
Southern Methodist head coach Rhett Lashlee chimed in on Tuesday, as his Mustangs prepare to face Penn State in the opening round of the playoffs on Saturday afternoon. Lashlee called for an end of the December portal, as he is also another head coach likely tired of seeing players achieve so much during the regular season, only to abandon the program prior to their postseason reward. Penn State’s backup quarterback Beau Pribula has already entered the portal, despite Penn State being one of the late-blooming favorites in this tournament, based on their narrow loss to undefeated Oregon in the Big 10 Championship game.
The NCAA sanctions schools for a lack of “institutional control” for recruiting or booster violations, but has lost all control of their own house in just two years time since the mass realignments within the power conferences. Although the student athletes deserve to be paid, what the NIL has turned into so quickly rivals or exceeds professional free agency. Duke freshman basketball phenom Cooper Flagg already has more NIL money than his NBA rookie contract will be worth, considering he will jump to the pros after this season for sure. The Paul Skenes/Livvy Dunne power couple takes a rather dark turn when you break down the numbers. Skenes earned $740,000 in his debut season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but a $9.2 million incentive-laden signing bonus. Dunne, who is now a senior at LSU, made $4 million this year, and nearly $7 million since NIL became official in June 2021.
I grew up loving college sports more than the pros, as the names changed every four years. You did not see many instances of underclassmen declaring for the draft in either basketball or football. Outside of bowl games, the College World Series, and March Madness, most college sports have become outright unwatchable, as most of the major sports have turned into a minor league system of the pros. Once college football makes defensive pass interference penalties a spot foul, or removes the clock stopping on a first down inside of two minutes in each half, the final nail will be driven. The transfer portal needs sweeping change. If a player declares for the portal during the gap between their school’s regular and postseason, that player should be deemed ineligible for a set period of time.
The 36 players who formerly attended Marshall robbed the school of several million for the bowl game appearance, and nearly 50 other scholarship athletes the chance to play one more game during a successful season. I have to give kudos to redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Mike Green, who has not yet been added to that list, after being named to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) second-team All American list. Green tied for the Division I lead in sacks with 17, and led the nation in tackles for loss (22.5) and yardage (155). Green will likely declare for the NFL after next season.
-JC24