Western Illinois recruiting coordinator Joshua Caraway shared his thoughts via social media on the 15-day January transfer portal window. (Photo by GoLeathernecks.com)
By Dan Verdun
Speed dating. A mad scramble. Musical chairs. The Wild West.
Whatever description you prefer, today marks a drastic change in the Division I football transfer portal window.
The change stems from the D-I Administrative Committee’s October approval that set a reduced 15-day period – Jan. 2-16 – for all FBS and FCS players. It drew mixed reaction from the four Illinois FCS head coaches in the fall.
“It’s always been speed dating, but now it will be even more so,” Illinois State head coach Brock told Prairie State Pigskin.
For Spack’s staff, the window opens as it prepares for Monday night’s FCS national championship game against Montana State in Nashville.
“We’re getting guys lined up for visits the best we can,” Spack said. “We’re not taking a lot of transfers. We’ll take a few, obviously, but not a ton. But that depends on how many guys we lose.”
To date, the Redbirds have lost three players who have entered the portal: wide receiver Gavin Camp, running back Matt Lawson and linebacker Jamarcus Smith.
For the remaining Illinois FCS teams, it’s the opportunity to rebuild rosters – some of which have been decimated by players — often key standouts — that have announced their intentions to enter the portal.
The reduced window definitely presents challenges for coaching staffs and student-athletes alike.
Western Illinois recruiting coordinator Joshua Caraway, who also coaches special teams and tight ends, recently posted his thoughts on social media:
UT Martin plays in the OVC-Big South along with WIU and Eastern Illinois. Jason Simpson, the longest-tenured head coach in the league, shared his thoughts on the 2026 transfer portal changes earlier this fall.
“I do like the fact that there’s only one (window),” Simpson said. “At least you know what you’re dealing with in the middle of the year. It’s a good change for programs.”
Simpson, the father of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, also sees the coming chaos.
“Man, you talk about a mad scramble,” he said. “All of us are probably trying to fill a minimum of 20 spots. You’ve probably got maybe eight-to-10 kids a day coming in (for visits) for about 10 days because you’re trying to get them in before school starts for your spring semester.”
Simpson pointed out that a coaching staff will have “a couple of phone conversations and then have a kid on campus for 24 hours at most.”
“They’re sleeping eight hours of that, and so you’re trying to get to know them and make good decisions to see if this is a good fit,” Simpson said. “That’s difficult.”
Spack, the dean of the Missouri Valley Football Conference coaches, has sometimes called the portal windows “The Wild West” or “musical chairs.”
One of the problems for players in the musical chairs analogy is that when the tune stops, there may not be any available seats remaining. With more than 3,300 players reportedly in the portal, that certainly seems to be the case.
Eastern Illinois athletic director Tom Michael has pointed out regularly that once a player enters the portal, the institution he is leaving no longer has any financial responsibility toward him once a semester ends.
In short, said player no longer has a scholarship to fall back on should he not find a new football home.
There is no longer a spring transfer window, as there has been for the last three off-seasons. Players can still transfer outside the portal windows as a normal student would but aren’t technically allowed to have recruiting contact with other schools unless they have entered their names in the portal, reports The Athletic.
– Barry Bottino contributed to this story.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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