The NCAA transfer portal and the one-time transfer exception has changed how college football teams assemble their rosters, and Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin talked about that a little bit during a recent press conference.
As the NCAA transfer portal opens and the early signing period approaches, James Franklin broke down the difficulty of managing a roster and balancing taking care of current players with setting your sights on the future.
“I think that’s the challenge, right?” James Franklin said according to On3. “You’ve got to, number one, take care of your current players and make sure that they are developing and finishing strong academically and giving yourself the best chance to be 1-0 this week or for this game.”
Still, Franklin acknowledges that in modern college football, it’s not possible to ignore the transfer portal or high school recruiting if you’re going to build a successful program.
“But at the same time, you’d better be bringing in players, whether it’s from high school or from the transfer portal, that are going to allow you to keep growing and developing as a program and as an organization for the future,” Franklin said.
“It’s the constant battle of those two things, and that’s why you see college football staffs have gotten bigger because literally you’re trying to do both at the same time constantly. Obviously, this time of year, right before signing period and the transfer portal opening, it magnifies it even more so.”
We’ll have to see how Penn State handles their roster management this offseason as they look toward a promising 2024 season.
[On3]
