Things are about to get even more hectic in the college football world with the transfer portal set to open on Monday.
Even though the portal isn’t open right now, some players have announced their intent to enter. That isn’t stopping coaches from tampering with players currently on a team and trying to convince them to transfer.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Thursday the NCAA needs to do something about it poaching players financially from other schools.
“Obviously, we have guys that come in, go into the portal and you’re not going to talk them out of it simply because they’ve already been poached by somebody else,” Pittman said. “Told the finances and everything else. We do not do that here, we don’t. But it happens all the time. NCAA at some point has to put some type of penalties on teams that are poaching players, because it’s going around the country everywhere. We’re not.”
The game has changed immensely in recent years. Players can make money off their name, image and likeness since legislation passed in June 2021.
Those NIL numbers have continued to rise, with speculation that some players are earning more than seven figures to play college football. Pittman said on Nov. 15 he believes there needs to be some more regulations put in place.
“I’m not fine with it at all, the way it is now,” Pittman said. “But I think there has to be some type of… If we’re going to be an NFL-type franchise, we probably ought to look at what the NFL’s is doing with their incoming with caps, incoming players. Because there’s some guys on the team … in all honesty, that came in without NIL.
"And so the NIL is certainly a big part of recruiting. And you’ve got guys on your team that started for a while and whatever. It’s just like the NFL where they had a starting left tackle, and then the rookie — a long time ago — came in and made a lot more money than he did. It’s just… It’s wild, to be honest with you right now.
“Something has to give in legislation. Because I remember two or three years ago where the kids at Texas, if they played O-line, you know got $20,000 in NIL endorsements or whatever. And I remember at the time going, ‘Man, we can’t recruit at all.’ And now that’s a drop in the bucket, you know. It’s rapidly increasing. It’s not monopoly money. And so, we’re in trouble across — in my opinion — across the NCAA because it’s not Monopoly, it’s real money that’s being paid out. Yes, I’d be all for somebody putting some types of restrictions on it.”
Regardless, the game has to be played. Pittman knows that, and while he certainly doesn’t want to lose players, he said after the Early Signing Period in 2022 that he’ll replace them when he has to.
“The portal taketh and it giveth,” Pittman said Dec. 16, 2022. “That's just what happens. We tried to keep every kid certainly on the team, but if they feel like there's a better opportunity for them out there, it's like anything. If somebody wants to get in the portal -- if your wife wants to get in the portal, it's hard to bring her back. At some point you're going 'OK, I'll go replace her.'
"So you kind of have to have that mindset because then it becomes just woe is me. Our mindset is whomever decides they'd like to do that, we certainly love them, we want them to stay, but if they decide to go, our mindset is we're going to go replace them. That's where we're at with all those things."
So far, Arkansas has had a few players enter the portal, including linebacker Chris “Pooh” Paul Jr., linebacker Jordan Crook, receiver Sam Mbake, defensive back Jayden Lewis and others. There has been speculation that starting quarterback KJ Jefferson would enter, but he posted on his Instagram story he hadn’t made up his mind.
There will be more transfers, both in and out of the Arkansas program, in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to HawgBeat for the latest updates.
