NCAAF
Oklahoma Quarterback Caleb Williams shakes up the College Football world by entering the Transfer Portal
By Andre Watson
While many were focused on the College Football Playoff, Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams was shaking up the college football world as we know it, by entering the transfer portal to leverage better NIL deals.
Williams became the starting quarterback for the Sooners mid-season last year, and tore it up as a freshman tallying up 27 total touchdowns and just four interceptions, and a QBR of 169 for the season. Williams officially entered the transfer portal on January 3rd stating that Oklahoma was still a landing spot for him. Less than 48 hours later Williams was publicly offered a one million dollar deal to go to Eastern Michigan by former NFL QB Charlie Batch.
Though this is the only public offer that we’ve seen it is safe to say that many schools are pulling strings as we speak working on a deal to bring in Caleb Williams. According to the Grove Report, the Head Coach of Ole Miss Lane Kiffin is personally handling the recruiting of Williams, a job that's typically delegated to a position coach or even a coordinator. The Caleb Williams bidding war will feature teams like USC, Ole Miss, Georgia and Oklahoma.
With money being involved in college sports now this is what many feared would happen. ESPN’s Paul FInebaum called this “One of the most amazing moves in College Football history”. Williams had an amazing season last year and instead of sitting on it and prepping for next year he entered the portal and is now “waiting to see what kind of offers and what kind of deals come his way”.
This is something we typically see from pros, a guy has a career year and instead of resigning, he goes out and tests free agency and to see what he can get. This move by Williams is important because it opens the door for so many players to control their futures and money. We may even see a player hold-out asking for more money from deals.
Many find this bad for College sports and say only the big schools will dominate, but personally I love it. Regardless of the rules, the landscape of who dominates College Football stays the same. This year Alabama and Georgia are in the national championship, 10 years ago Alabama and Georgia were both top 5 teams. 30 years ago, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Norte Dame were all top 10 teams, all 4 of those teams finished in the top 10 this year too.
The blue bloods will always have a leg up, but having player movement like this in my opinion makes college football that much more interesting.
2021 Early Signing Period Recap
By Andre Watson
The early signing period for college football has become one of the most important days in the sport, as many of the nation’s elite recruits sign on this date. Today some teams walked away happy like Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, and Michigan. Other teams were left with lots of question marks like, Florida State, Clemson and Florida.
The day was filled with lots of flips and surprises, the biggest one came early with the Nation’s top recruit Travis Hunter flipping his commitment from Florida State to Jackson State, becoming the first 5-star to ever sign with an HBCU. Texas A&M quite possibly had the best day in school history having 13 guys in the top 100 to sign, and they still are in the running for multiple 5 stars who are looking to sign on the later date.
Alabama is no stranger to having one of the best recruiting classes, since 2011 Nick Saban the Crimson Tide has only had one recruiting class fall outside of the top 3 and today was no different, signing 13 guys in the top 100 and pulling in the no. 2 ranked recruiting class this year. Today wasn’t a great day for everyone though, the Clemson Tigers so far have their lowest ranked recruiting class since 2012, signing just one 5-star. Tiger fans should not worry, they still will have one of the most talented rosters in the ACC next year, and in the spring should be able to land some impactful transfers. USC is another school that is struggling with depth in their recruiting class, with just 6 guys signed so far and 2 ranked inside the top 100, the Trojans will have to hit the Transfer Portal hard this summer to fill some needed holes for new head coach Lincoln Riley.
Jim Harbaugh has been on a roll lately and today was another good day for him and the Michigan Wolverines. Pulling in a top 100 safety, and flipping a 4-star receiver from the Miami Hurricanes. The Wolverines are sitting pretty with yet another top 10 class. The other Newbie in the College Football Playoff, the Cincinnati Bearcats aren’t the recruiting powers that their power 5 counterparts are but they find value in low rated recruits. For example Ahmad Gardner who was ranked 1,672nd in the nation but today is regarded as a 1st rounder on everyone’s draft board. Desmond Ridder, the starting quarterback was ranked 1,657th and is now one of the best quarterbacks in the country. So when you see the Bearcats sign only 2 4-star recruits keep in mind development is huge among group of 5 programs.
With the Transfer portal as big as it is today, if your favorite team isn’t at the top of the recruiting class rankings there is no reason to worry. Also there are still many recruits who have also not made their decision so these rankings are not final. February 2nd will be the Regular signing day period.