Waiting til season is over for portal announcements?

they are going to have to restructure this portal mess again…And not just from a playoff team's perspective, although that makes it tougher obviously, especially on players.

January portal only = worse for players
Spring portal only= worse for program

Maybe grad transfers or 4th/5th year players can still do it spring? Or maybe one transfer overall allowed until you graduate? This is really rough on players who are trying to work their way into a starting role. Yes they have to compete their *** off and always have…BUT back to the examplee I chose before is a Raul Aguirre…We most likely are brining in a portal LB for at the minimum depth and possibly to start. Aguirre has played some good, even if unspectacular football since he got on campus and from all accounts is a good teammate. I personally think the kid has shown signs of being a quality LB, but obviously not a star. Of course he is going to be in the rotation no matter what next year. Now should be handed a starting position in his final year of eligibility? No, of course not, nor will he be imo.

BUT let's say he gets beat out in spring by whoever we bring in at portal…His final year he may want to be somewhere he can get more than 250 snaps, and as an upperclassmen he SHOULD have that option to look around.
 
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There are three options here:

1.) Several deals have already been offered, visits scheduled, some deals inked etc and UM is just keeping them under wraps until the season ends to avoid any distractions while the team is actively competing in the CFP. This is the best case scenario and would result in a flurry of announcements once we play our last game.

2.) The staff is devoting the vast majority of its efforts on game prep and has only been hap-heartedly pursuing the portal. This is a high risk strategy as it basically is gambling that you win the natty and the fanbase is therefore going to accept a mediocre 7-5/8-4 type season next year. If you fail to win the title then this gamble blows up in your face. This seems like a bad strategy especially since Indiana and Ole Miss have been very active in the portal, and also given that staffs are so large and specialized these days you can afford to have some people devoted to game prep and others to recruiting/portal.

3.) The staff is putting a lot of effort in to playing the portal and just whiffing. Given our coffers and recent on-field success this seems somewhat unlikely, but we saw this happen to UM basketball after the 2022-2023 final four run. The program seemed destined for sustained success but collapsed over the next 2 years, as kids don't care as much about program success these days.

My guess is it is a combination of options 1.) and 3.) and hopefully more of option 1. One thing to note is that although we are all excited about the potential portal additions there will almost certainly be some painful/head-scratching portal subtractions once we play our last game. It is possible this also plays into the portal-chess game.
 
they are going to have to restructure this portal mess again…And not just from a playoff team's perspective, although that makes it tougher obviously, especially on players.

January portal only = worse for players
Spring portal only= worse for program

Maybe grad transfers or 4th/5th year players can still do it spring? Or maybe one transfer overall allowed until you graduate? This is really rough on players who are trying to work their way into a starting role. Yes they have to compete their *** off and always have…BUT back to the examplee I chose before is a Raul Aguirre…We most likely are brining in a portal LB for at the minimum depth and possibly to start. Aguirre has played some good, even if unspectacular football since he got on campus and from all accounts is a good teammate. Of course he is going to be in the rotation no matter what next year. Now should be handed a starting position in his final year of eligibility? No, of course not, nor will he be imo.

BUT let's say he gets beat out in spring by whoever we bring in at portal…His final year he may want to be somewhere he can get more than 250 snaps, and as an upperclassmen he SHOULD have that option to look around.

My fix for this playoff/portal cluster:

1. Eliminate CCG's. They've become useless

2. Expand playoff to 16 teams so everyone plays at about the same time (4 games Fri and 4 games Sat)

3. Start playoffs asap

4. Portal window opens Fri after NCG for everyone. Even gives the finalists a few days to prepare
 
My fix for this playoff/portal cluster:

1. Eliminate CCG's. They've become useless

2. Expand playoff to 16 teams so everyone plays at about the same time (4 games Fri and 4 games Sat)

3. Start playoffs asap

4. Portal window opens Fri after NCG for everyone. Even gives the finalists a few days to prepare
I wouldn't eliminate CCGs, but I would bump the season up a week so CCGs are played Thanksgiving weekend. Then have one week off before starting the playoffs. Gets playoffs over with by Jan 3 or so. Then portal, signing day (get rid of the February one at this point), and coaching window opens. They have to stop the madness of what happened with Kiffin; works in the NFL, no reason they can't enforce it in college.
 
There are three options here:

1.) Several deals have already been offered, visits scheduled, some deals inked etc and UM is just keeping them under wraps until the season ends to avoid any distractions while the team is actively competing in the CFP. This is the best case scenario and would result in a flurry of announcements once we play our last game.

2.) The staff is devoting the vast majority of its efforts on game prep and has only been hap-heartedly pursuing the portal. This is a high risk strategy as it basically is gambling that you win the natty and the fanbase is therefore going to accept a mediocre 7-5/8-4 type season next year. If you fail to win the title then this gamble blows up in your face. This seems like a bad strategy especially since Indiana and Ole Miss have been very active in the portal, and also given that staffs are so large and specialized these days you can afford to have some people devoted to game prep and others to recruiting/portal.

3.) The staff is putting a lot of effort in to playing the portal and just whiffing. Given our coffers and recent on-field success this seems somewhat unlikely, but we saw this happen to UM basketball after the 2022-2023 final four run. The program seemed destined for sustained success but collapsed over the next 2 years, as kids don't care as much about program success these days.

My guess is it is a combination of options 1.) and 3.) and hopefully more of option 1. One thing to note is that although we are all excited about the potential portal additions there will almost certainly be some painful/head-scratching portal subtractions once we play our last game. It is possible this also plays into the portal-chess game.
If you vaguely know anything about Mario, you can remove your number 2.
 
Care to make any predictions on the record here?
ozark-ruth.gif
 
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My fix for this playoff/portal cluster:

1. Eliminate CCG's. They've become useless

2. Expand playoff to 16 teams so everyone plays at about the same time (4 games Fri and 4 games Sat)

3. Start playoffs asap

4. Portal window opens Fri after NCG for everyone. Even gives the finalists a few days to prepare

Yup all fair points, especially #3… It definitely shouldn't be that long of a wait
 
My fix for this playoff/portal cluster:

1. Eliminate CCG's. They've become useless

2. Expand playoff to 16 teams so everyone plays at about the same time (4 games Fri and 4 games Sat)

3. Start playoffs asap

4. Portal window opens Fri after NCG for everyone. Even gives the finalists a few days to prepare
All good ideas, but here is some push back that I think will occur (not mine)

1. SEC/Big Ten will argue they will lose money without the game, they will want that money to be made up by a playoff offset payment.

2. Byes provide meaning to the regular season

4. Depending upon final date of playoffs, academic enrollment calendars will be closed. So far, the only rule that the NCAA hasn't been challenged or changed is that a player must be enrolled to participate in team activities.
 
Last day to enroll for classes is January 21th and championship game is the 19th so what are like 10 portal guys gonna announce and enroll on same day
 
All good ideas, but here is some push back that I think will occur (not mine)

1. SEC/Big Ten will argue they will lose money without the game, they will want that money to be made up by a playoff offset payment.

2. Byes provide meaning to the regular season

4. Depending upon final date of playoffs, academic enrollment calendars will be closed. So far, the only rule that the NCAA hasn't been challenged or changed is that a player must be enrolled to participate in team activities.

Can see those conferences complaining up a storm as you mention but by expanding the playoffs there's a good chance they'd get at least one more team each, imo.

Byes do provide meaning yet the results in the playoffs are heavily one-sided as to not continue them.

Something that just crossed my mind is that maybe there could be a play in b/w two G5 programs for spot 16 as a way to appease that level. Would be the sacrificial lamb. But I'd rather have one than two as was this season.
 
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My fix for this playoff/portal cluster:

1. Eliminate CCG's. They've become useless

2. Expand playoff to 16 teams so everyone plays at about the same time (4 games Fri and 4 games Sat)

3. Start playoffs asap

4. Portal window opens Fri after NCG for everyone. Even gives the finalists a few days to prepare

How about this novel idea:

How about 4 “Play in games” neutral site on CCG weekend for teams at the top not playing CC games. Top 8 teams after that play two weeks later (after Army/Navy weekend). Semi finals on NYD. Championship game the following Satruday (~ Jan 7th).

Move HS signing day back to mid Feb, all the teams can wait to fire coaches until after season ends and time to build new staffs and recruit to finish line.

Move Portal window to Spring. Everyone gets to see their new class and current roster in Spring before deciding needs. Spring portal is May/June. Players are less likely to quit during the season (and postseason) if they can’t find a new home for 5 months.

This spreads out the activity around the year. It would honestly hurt Miami because most staffs don’t work like ours. But it would make it better for CFB fans.
 
If you vaguely know anything about Mario, you can remove your number 2.
i actually think its most likely #2 and i also think thats the best strategy.

i also dont understand calling it “high risk”.

we are on the verge of playing for a national title. nothing could be higher risk than that. if you know mario, you know hes all about removing distractions and being laser focused.

you 100% sacrifice some potential players dfor next season if it means you get an advantage in the semi’s, against a team who is completely distracted right now.

and all this talk about what indiana is doing…

1. theyve already played and gameplaned for oregon before.

2. how about wait and see how these games unfold to truly see if they look less prepared before applauding their ability to do both. for all we know they come out flat and unprepared
 
Not worried about recruiting or portal with Mario, especially with actual success to pair with the money and his mad man recruiting efforts.
Im
Worried there is no spring portal
We have killed our spring portal evals
 
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