We’re a month removed from the national championship game, and the players who transferred from Notre Dame and Ohio State have found homes. So that’s given us a good bit of separation from the winter transfer portal window.
Now that there has been time to assess all the roster movement, The Athletic spoke to 13 coaches and personnel staffers across the sport to get their insight on the most recent portal cycle — from players and portal classes they liked the most to how much it costs to land transfers and build rosters. Coaches and staffers were granted anonymity for their unfiltered thoughts.
The panel:
- Coach 1: Power 4 linebackers coach
- Coach 2: Power 4 tight ends coach
- Coach 3: Power 4 director of player personnel
- Coach 4: Group of 5 head coach
- Coach 5: Power 4 receivers coach
- Coach 6: Power 4 cornerbacks coach
- Coach 7: Power 4 head coach
- Coach 8: Power 4 general manager
- Coach 9: Power 4 general manager
- Coach 10: Group of 5 general manager
- Coach 11: Power 4 recruiting coordinator
- Coach 12: Power 4 general manager
- Coach 13: Former Power 4 scouting director
Which transfer who didn’t sign with your school did you like the most in the portal?
Coach 1: Khmori House (North Carolina from Washington). There were not a ton of great linebackers in the portal.
Coach 2: (Receiver) Cooper Barkate kid from Harvard (now at Duke).
Coach 3: (Offensive tackle) Howard Sampson, who Texas Tech signed. (Purdue offensive lineman) DJ Wingfield was a good get for USC. I wanted (linebacker) Taariq Al-Uqdah from Washington State who is going to Washington.
Coach 4: Cam Vaughn, the receiver from Jacksonville State who ended up going with Rich Rod to West Virginia. The other one I loved, (quarterback) Chandler Morris (Virginia from North Texas).
Coach 5: Miller (Moss, USC quarterback who transferred to Louisville). I liked (receiver) Eric Singleton (Auburn from Georgia Tech). (Quarterback) John Mateer (Oklahoma from Washington State) was a really good player. Nic Anderson at Oklahoma (who transferred to LSU) has some talent if he’s healthy.
Coach 7: (Safety) Zechariah Poyser (Miami from Jacksonville).
Coach 8: Max Klare, the tight end from Purdue (who transferred to Ohio State). He’s improving in all facets of his game but as far as what he does with his pass-catching ability and his route running, he’s a problem.
Coach 9: Jayson Jenkins (Tennessee edge rusher) who signed with Florida State. I think he’s an NFL defensive end in the right scheme. Big kid, 6-6, 280, movement skills, length, physicality. He’s nice. The other one is Dillon Thieneman, the safety from Purdue who went to Oregon. He’s a f—ing dawg.
Coach 10: Eric Rivers, the receiver who went from FIU to Georgia Tech. He’s a baller. Chris Murray, the edge rusher who went to Auburn. He was at Sam Houston but he’s a P4 talent.
Coach 11: (Former UCF tight end) Randy Pittman. Great kid. He’ll be a great player for Florida State.
Coach 12: Eric Singleton. He’s a real dude. Probably as good as you can get at receiver of guys that were jumping into the portal.
Coach 13: I really liked (tight end) Jamari Johnson (Oregon from Louisville). I really, really liked (offensive lineman) Emmanuel Pregnon (Oregon from USC). I think he was a top-five player in the portal.
Eric Singleton Jr. caught 56 passes for 754 yards in 2024. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
Whose portal class did you like the best?
Coach 3: Ohio State did a great job. They just get really, really good quality. They’re very efficient with what they need in the portal. And Oregon. Both of those squads took some surefire guys and helped the areas they needed.
Coach 4: Texas Tech and LSU, you could tell they’re going all-in. LSU’s committed to not just making the Playoff with what they’ve done but to winning the whole thing. Ole Miss, they continue to do it every year. It’s a down year for Ole Miss in the portal and they probably have the third-best portal class. I think Ole Miss has mastered NIL, the portal.
Coach 5: Texas Tech was the one who came out of nowhere a little bit. LSU. Your staple teams, Ole Miss and Oregon, Miami, those guys are always going to be able to compete.
Coach 6: Texas Tech did a good job. Oregon does one of the best jobs with the portal. They didn’t get a lot of volume but they got bang for their buck.
Coach 7: LSU did a fantastic job. I don’t know if their philosophy changed or what but they targeted the right people, especially the big guys up front.
Coach 8: Ohio State, to me, killed it.
Coach 9: Oregon. They’re at the point where they specialize. They’re going to get six or seven guys who are just elite.
Coach 11: Texas A&M did a really good job. What they did at receiver — they had a very evident need and they attacked it.
Coach 13: Texas Tech. Listen, they might have overspent for some kids, but that’s relative. If a guy becomes who you wanted him to become, is it really overspending? … To throw a G5 school a bone because it’s so much harder for those guys: Memphis had a good class. The quantity was high but the quality was too. They signed some talented players.
Did any school surprise you (good or bad) this past portal cycle?
Coach 2: You look at what Oregon’s doing, the offensive linemen they’ve brought in — Isaiah World from Nevada and the offensive lineman from USC (Pregnon) — money talks.
Coach 3: I thought SMU would be a little more active, but they didn’t lose a lot. Duke did a great job bringing in (quarterback) Darian Mensah (from Tulane). Florida State did an excellent job. It seemed like they learned from their misses. I don’t know about (quarterback) Thomas Castellanos, not sure how that one works out … but the rest of their class, I liked.
Coach 5: Texas Tech. Oklahoma … not being what you’d think they’d be. You would think a team like that would do a little more in the portal.
Coach 7: It didn’t seem like Miami was as active as years before. Maybe they got smarter, started taking guys that would fit a culture.
Coach 8: I thought (Miami) did a poor job. I thought they were going to kill it and they didn’t. I thought they were going to kill it and Texas A&M was going to kill it and I didn’t feel good about either of their classes.
Coach 12: UCF had some odd takes. I get it, they’re scrambling with a new coach and all that. The number of defensive backs they took was surprising. I think Miami (Ohio) did a good job, Group of 5-wise, with the players they took. Clearly, they have a good process and did a good job.
Coach 13: LSU, in a good way, because they were finally willing to pay for some players. North Carolina surprised me because when you have head coaching turnover, it always happens around the time when the portal is popping. But they were able to land a really good class.
Which portal quarterback did you like the best?
Coach 1: Kaidon Salter (Colorado from Liberty). (Devon Dampier) is a good player at Utah (from New Mexico). (Former Cal quarterback Fernando) Mendoza (who transferred to Indiana).
Coach 2: Mateer and the kid at Tulane (Mensah) and Maalik Murphy (Oregon State from Duke).
Coach 3: Mateer. He still has some areas to get better at. His passing game, he can get better there but he can extend, he’s tough, he’s a gamer, he’s smart. So I don’t see why he won’t be able to put it all together.
Coach 4: I loved Chandler Morris. I was intrigued with Anthony Colandrea (UNLV from Virginia). I liked Mikey Keene from Fresno who ended up at Michigan.
Coach 5: Mateer was really intriguing. Jackson Arnold (Auburn from Oklahoma). Intriguing. … I thought they had skill sets but what are they going to be?
Coach 6: Mateer from Washington State. He’s more Baker (Mayfield). I just feel you’ve got to be able to improvise and throw it off rhythm and make s— happen in that conference. … Mateer is more of a fit to make them competitive in the SEC.
Coach 7: Everybody liked the Mateer kid. He was a no-brainer because he can run and can throw.
Coach 11: Maverick McIvor from Abilene Christian, who went with (former ACU offensive coordinator) Rick Bowie to Western Kentucky. If I were a P4 school that had a young guy to compete (for the starting job) but also needed a safety net, I would have definitely went after that kid. He lit it up at the FCS level and won a lot of games.
Coach 12: There’s a kid who was at Eastern Washington, Kekoa Visperas, who stayed in the FCS (Tennessee Tech), who was a damn good player. I’m surprised he didn’t go Power 4. He started the last two years, had a lot of production. He’s little, but he’s accurate.
Coach 13: Carson Beck. But, the injury is concerning. I know they’re saying he’s going to be 100 percent by time the season rolls around, but that part is a little bit of nerve-wracking. … I really like Michael Van Buren (transferred to LSU). He’s really talented and for him to go in with such a bad situation at Mississippi State where there weren’t a lot of great players and be a true freshman starter in the toughest or second-toughest conference in college football, the returns there were really good.
Based off what you know, what’s the going rate for a starting-caliber player at the position you coach?
Coach 1: Probably $250,000 or higher (at linebacker).
Coach 2: I’d say it’s at least $300,000 (for receiver).
Coach 3: A normal, average P4 (starting quarterback) is about $900,000. Your better ones, top five or six in the conference, will be about $1.3 to $1.4 million range. You can get average for pretty good price. We didn’t go above $750k for (our guy) but I do believe in him and what he can do.
Coach 5: There were (receivers) late in the stretch who were going for $800,000 to $1 million at some places. At the low end, maybe $200,00 $300,000. For a starter, $250,000 to $300,000. For some of those elite guys, probably $800,000 to $1 million or even more, which is nuts.
Coach 6: I would say the floor (at cornerback) is $200,000.
Coach 7: $400,000 for a top-tier running back, to me, is enough (to get a guy). Your best pass rusher, your great three-technique, they’re probably getting $700,000 to $800,000. They’re not getting that from us but they are from (richer schools).
Coach 8: A tackle is at or over $1 million. Boundary receivers are about $1 million-plus.
Coach 10: At the premium positions, you’re getting a legit six figures at the G5 level, especially at quarterback. (G5) tackles and edge rushers are probably clearing six figures as well. Once you kinda get past that, I don’t think it’s as high as people think. Probably in the tens of thousands for (G5) running backs, receivers.
Coach 11: A (Power 4) starting quarterback, you’re looking at about $1 million. Running back, depending on what you’re doing, probably $200,000 to $250,000. Receivers … anywhere from $600,000 to $800,000 for a really good one. There were tight ends who went for $650,000 this cycle. Tackles, you’re looking at $750,000-plus — one of them got $1.5 million. Interior O-line, $250,000 to $400,000 range. Edge rushers, I would say $250,000 or $300,000. Interior D-linemen, much more, probably talking $500,000. Linebackers, $150,000 to $300,000, depending on age and experience. You can get some good ones for $150,000. You can probably get an elite one for $300,000. All the defensive back positions, corner, safety, under $400,000. If you’re touching half a million for them, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
Coach 12: You can get a good offensive tackle for $500,000. But depending on the situation, it was usually a little bit more. And then, as teams got desperate, it was like $1 million. If you have $300,000 to $500,000 for a receiver, you’re going to get a really good player. We really weren’t in the pass-rusher market, but that was nearing $1 million from what I heard.
Coach 13: Tight ends, anywhere from $300,000 to $750,000. Quarterback, minimum $1 million if you’re an Auburn, a Miami or an LSU looking for the right one. Group of 5 starters (at quarterback), mid-six figures; it wouldn’t surprise me if you got to $800,000 for the right one.
What’s the boldest request you received from a transfer recruit or representatives this cycle?
Coach 1: $300,000 and a guarantee of 90 percent of the snaps. Or $400,000 from a guy who made 30 tackles. I said that’s too rich for my blood.
Coach 4: There was a (Power 4) backup offensive lineman who wanted us to guarantee him $300,000, and he played like 19 snaps last year. I’m like “Hell no.” I’d rather retain a good young player on my roster who I already know who he is.
Coach 7: An agent — I wasn’t even sure I was going to take this guy — but he said, “Now you need to think outside the box like crypto and gold bars.” I was thinking, “What the f—? What the hell is crypto?”
Coach 8: Babysitting.
Coach 13: An offensive tackle told us if we gave him $715,000 and a car that he would sign with us. I think housing was involved in that, too.
How much total money do you think your school needs to build a competitive roster in your league?
Coach 1: I would say $10 million.
Coach 2: Now we’re going into revenue share so you’ll be at that $21 million cap. So as long as your school is hitting your total revenue share, you’ll be OK.
Coach 3: I would say probably about $13 million to $14 million to be competitive for the conference title.
Coach 4: The goal is to always be in the top three (NIL-wise in our G5 conference). Next year I think that’s $4 million or $5 million. You’re looking at $5 million for G5s moving forward like, “Hey, if you want to be in the game, this is where you’ve got to be.”
Coach 5: If you truly want to compete every year, you better be at $15 million-plus.
Coach 7: We’ve got the numbers at $15 million. We won’t quite be at that. But from a football standpoint, with rev share you’ve got to be somewhere between $13 million and $15 million and also have the ability to get legit NIL for some guys. Another $3 million to $4 million of that will put you in the ballpark.
Coach 8: $40-50 million. That’s where I think it’s going to go.
Coach 9: If you’re talking championship level, elite eight-, final four-level, you need a $20 million roster for that. If you’re talking just competitive, winning eight or nine games, $10-$15 million. The people who spend the most are gonna have the best roster. That’s just what it is.
Coach 10: In a post-House settlement world, the floor to being competitive in our (G5) league is probably in the $3-5 million range. Some schools will be higher, but in our conference, most of the schools will be in that range on an annual basis.
Coach 11: If you actually want a chance to win it, you need $20 million. Anything less than that — unless you’re just a genuinely great X’s and O’s guy or developer — is going to get you just an OK team.
Coach 12: Like, $13 million to $15 million. As long as everyone’s working within the rules and not going outside the cap, it’s hard to get much more than that. You can allocate more to football and go to $16 million or $17 million, I guess, but I don’t think everyone in our conference is at that number, either.
Coach 13: I would say $17 million. To sign high school kids, pay your own kids and get players in the portal, $17 million is a good middle ground.
(Top photo of John Mateer, Texas Tech mascot: Alika Jenner, John E. Moore III / Getty Images)
