WVU’s Rich Rodriguez Says New Transfer Portal Rule Mirrors NFL Free Agency

The West Virginia Mountaineers football team was hit hard by the transfer portal this offseason, as well as every other college football program, as the college sports world continues to change rapidly. With the NIL money getting out of control, the NCAA has to try to find a way to mitigate the extremes of the college football world changing. 

One thing that has transpired is that there is now just one 10-day transfer portal window as opposed to one at the end of the season and then another one in the spring. WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez is a fan of the change, as he told the media on Wednesday. 

"I think it is a much better improvement. The two windows was too many, and then the length of the windows was too much. Most coaches would tell you it was crazy times. It's getting close to the NFL free agent time period. I've always said this, as many rules as we could kind of follow what the NFL does because they are the best professional organization there is, and they got a bunch of rules, and that's how they're so competitive every year. We need to follow that. I think going to the one transfer portal window, to me, is going to make it a whole lot better from an organizational standpoint."

It sounds like Rich Rod is a big fan of the NFL and how they have gone about the business side of the game. College football has always been a business, but now the players can actually generate income from its success. 

That’s important because it has added to talented players transferring for better opportunities. While that's great for the player, it hurts the programs and the coaching staff. Obviously, this is why Rodriguez is a fan of the rule change. Doing this should also help improve the product on the field, as players will be locked into their program in the winter if they choose to stay put.

For the WVU fan base, these comments from Rodriguez show just how difficult the logistics behind the scenes have gotten in the world of college football. It will be super interesting to follow what other rules get implemented in the future.