Wyoming transfer Avante Cox turned into a big-play receiver for Southern Illinois with 202 career catches for 2,806 yards and 23 touchdowns. Cox also rushed for 523 yards and four TDs. (Photo by SIUSalukis.com)
By Dan Verdun
The NCAA is considering shortening the length of open time for its transfer portal windows in what appears to be yet another tweak to bring balance to the chaotic college football world.
According to a recent story by The Athletic’s Nicole Auberbach, “The Division I Council has introduced a proposal to shorten transfer windows to 30 days, down from the current 60-day period. The windows have been in effect for only one year, but that has provided enough data for the NCAA to determine that most athletes enter the portal at the beginning of the window. A shorter window would simplify the task of coaches in their efforts to manage and reconstruct their rosters.”
Eastern Illinois athletic director Tom Michael just finished his one-year term as president of the FCS Athletic Director Association. Meanwhile, he is serving his fourth and final year on the FCS playoff selection committee.
Prairie State Pigskin asked Michael about the NCAA proposal.
“I don’t know if anybody really knows what the right answers are for what’s taking place,” Michael said. “I think what a lot of people would suggest is that the way it’s currently set up isn’t working the way that people hope it would.
“We continue to go and tweak it. Maybe shortening the window is a good step to try to at least calm down all the chaos that takes place. Many rosters get totally torn up, so I hope that some of this can help with that.”
Michael, a former University of Illinois basketball player, realizes the proposal is just another step in a long process.
“I don’t know that it’s the final tweak that needs to be done, but it’s probably a good attempt,” he said.
Background
While Prairie State Pigskin has previously explored the transfer portal from the side of players leaving their FCS programs, here’s a glimpse at those same four Illinois schools adding FBS transfers.
We have chosen to do an examination of the last five seasons (2018-2022) for Eastern Illinois, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois and Illinois State. The research uses transfer information from each school’s official athletic website. It only accounts for FBS transfers; however, FCS-level, Division II, Division III, NAIA and international transfers are also listed. Junior college or community college transfers are not included.
Certainly there are numerous factors at play on a yearly basis that impact all of this. These include coaching staff changes, recruiting strategy adjustments, program losses and needs, and the balance of high school recruits with college transfers to name a few.
Additionally, as ISU head coach Brock Spack noted in an interview last winter, “Some of the FBS (transfers) are walk-ons or preferred walk-ons at that level.”
Thus, what is presented below is the pure statistical information.
Prairie State Pigskin reached out to Sam Herder, senior analyst for HERO Sports and an FCS Top 25/national awards voter, for his analysis.
Herder was asked to identify trends in the FBS-to-FCS transfers in recent years.
“There are typically twice as many FBS transfers coming to the FCS as there are FCS transfers going to the FBS,” Herder said. “Some FBS transfers have made significant impacts on their new FCS teams.
“But there’s a balance. Bringing in a ton of former three- and four-star recruits from the Power 5 (schools) looks great on paper. But if things don’t mesh, your locker room may have some problems.”
Herder cited an example from last season.
“Samford brought in many FBS transfers in 2022, and it had a breakout season,” he said. “Missouri State brought in a lot of FBS transfers in back-to-back seasons and things didn’t go well.”
Illinois FCS facts and figures
Total transfers (2018-22)
Western Illinois: 63 (32 on offense/31 on defense)
Southern Illinois: 56 (16/40)
Eastern Illinois: 39 overall (25/13/+LS)
Illinois State: 38 overall (19/19)
WIU Leathernecks
Western’s highest position transfer group was defensive back. The Leathernecks brought in 16 DBs.
Wide receiver was the largest offensive group with 10.
Breakdown
Defense (DB-16; DL-9; LB-5; P-1)
Offense (WR-10; OL-8; RB-5; QB-4; TE-4; K-2)
Note: One player was listed as both a punter and a kicker.
Where they came from
FBS 26
FCS 26
D2 8
NAIA 1
Canada 1
FBS breakdown
SEC 5 (Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri)
AAC 4 (Cincinnati, Memphis, Temple 2)
Big 12 3 (Iowa State 2, Texas)
MAC 3 (Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois)
Mountain West 3 (Boise State, Utah State 2)
Sun Belt 3 (Coastal Carolina 2, Georgia Southern)
ACC 2 (Duke 2)
Conference USA 2 (Old Dominion, Marshall)
Big Ten 1 (Ohio State)
SIU Salukis
Southern’s highest transfer position group was defensive back. The Salukis brought in 17 DBs.
Wide receiver was the largest offensive group with six.
Breakdown
Defense (DB-17; DL-14; LB-6; P-3)
Offense (WR-6; OL-3; QB-2; RB-2; TE-2; K-1)
Where they came from
FBS 43
FCS 10
D2 2
Australia 1
FBS breakdown
MAC 8 (Bowling Green 2, Buffalo 2, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Miami-Ohio, Northern Illinois)
AAC 7 (Cincinnati 2, Memphis 2, Navy, South Florida, Tulsa)
Big Ten 6 (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue 2)
SEC 5 (Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri)
Conference USA 4 (Florida International, Middle Tennessee St, Western Kentucky 2)
Sun Belt 4 (Arkansas State 2, Georgia Southern, James Madison)
ACC 3 (Louisville, Miami, Pittsburgh)
Big 12 3 (Oklahoma State 2, Colorado)
SEC 2 (Missouri, Texas A&M)
WAC 2 (Wyoming 2)
Independent 1 (UMass)
PAC 12 1 (Washington State)
Mountain West 1 (Utah)
EIU Panthers
Eastern’s highest transfer position group was wide receiver. The Panthers brought in 12 pass catchers.
Defensive back, with six, was the largest group on the other side of the ball.
Breakdown
Offense (WR-12; QB-7; RB-3; OL-2; TE-1)
Defense (DB-6; LB-4; DL-2; P-1)
Where they came from
FBS 24
FCS 9
D3 3
D2 2
Australia 1
FBS breakdown
Big Ten 6 (Illinois, Purdue 4, Penn State)
MAC 5 (Kent State, Northern Illinois 4)
ACC 4 (Duke, Florida State, Syracuse, Virginia)
Conference USA 3 (Charlotte 2, Marshall)
AAC 2 (Central Florida, Tulane)
Big 12 2 (Colorado, Texas Tech)
Mountain West 2 (Colorado State, Hawaii)
ISU Redbirds
ISU’s highest transfer position group was defensive line. The Redbirds brought in eight DLs.
Wide receiver, with six, was the largest group on the other side of the ball.
Breakdown
Defense (DL-8; LB-7; DB-4)
Offense (WR-6; OL-4; TE-3; K-2; QB-2; RB-2)
Where they came from
FBS 28
FCS 6
D2 3
D3 1
FBS breakdown
Big Ten 10 (Iowa 3, Minnesota 3, Illinois 2, Indiana, Wisconsin)
MAC 5 (Ohio 2, Bowling Green, Miami-Ohio, Western Michigan)
AAC 3 (Cincinnati, Memphis, Tulsa)
Independent 3 (Notre Dame 2, Army)
SEC 3 (Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee)
Mountain West 2 (New Mexico, Wyoming)
ACC 1 (Virginia)
PAC 12 1 (Washington State)
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