What to expect from Big Ten transfer portal movement during the spring window (2024)

College football’s transfer portal opens again on Tuesday and closes on April 30, giving players the option to find new landing spots and teams the chance to shore up any personnel deficiencies for the fall.

As of Sunday morning, the 18 Big Ten schools had 299 football players enter the transfer portal during the previous cycle, according to player entries compiled by On3 and totaled by The Athletic. These numbers reflect the 2023-24 cycle that began Dec. 4, 2023, through Jan. 2, 2024, and extends throughout this spring for players who entered the portal after their seasons concluded in January, their coaches left for another job or are graduate transfers.

Of those transfers, 217 found new homes, 29 withdrew from the portal and two opted for the NFL Draft. Those schools added 153 commitments or enrollees during that cycle.

* One addition from Iowa, MSU will enter the portal.

Here are a few Big Ten portal issues and topics to know before the spring window opens:

QB movement — Expect a second wave of quarterbacks to hit the portal this week or once spring practice concludes. Wisconsin backup Nick Evers announced Saturday he would enter the portal and more are likely to follow.

Ohio State is the team to watch with five quarterbacks owning four- or five-star recruiting or transfer ratings. They include Kansas State grad transfer Will Howard, junior Devin Brown, sophom*ore Lincoln Kienholz and true freshmen Julian Sayin and Air Noland. It appears Howard and Brown are the front runners and both had their moments this spring. The Buckeyes face this situation almost annually, and it would surprise no one if at least one, perhaps two, quarterbacks leave this week.

During the last cycle, 23 quarterbacks left Big Ten programs. Quarterbacks arriving during the previous portal cycle include Howard and Sayin (Alabama signee), Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke (Ohio), Maryland’s M.J. Morris (NC State), Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles (Oregon State) and Tommy Schuster (North Dakota), Minnesota’s Max Brosmer (New Hampshire) and Logan Fife (Fresno State), Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma) and Dante Moore (UCLA), Rutgers’ Athan Kaliakmanis (Minnesota), USC’s Jayden Maiava (UNLV), Washington’s Will Rogers (Mississippi State) and Demond Williams (Arizona signee) and Wisconsin’s Tyler Van Dyke (Miami).

New coaches — Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA and Washington have new coaches this spring while Northwestern’s David Braun elevated from interim to full-time coach. The Spartans (31), Hoosiers (30) and Huskies (26) had more than two dozen departures while late openings at Michigan (15) and UCLA (18) saw mixed levels of attrition.

The Wolverines and Huskies played for the national title and they’ve had completely different offseasons. By elevating Sherrone Moore from assistant to head coach to replace Jim Harbaugh, Michigan was mostly stable with five losses to Power 4 institutions (LB Joey Velazquez to Ohio State, safety Keon Sabb to Alabama, cornerback Cameron Calhoun to Utah, cornerback Amorion Walker to Ole Miss, tight end Matthew Hibner to SMU).

Washington’s Jedd Fisch replaced Kalen DeBoer, who left for Alabama after the national title game. The Huskies had perhaps the most unstable January of any program. Fisch, who left Arizona for Washington, brought eight Wildcats with him and a ninth (former Indiana cornerback Jordan Shaw) who committed to Arizona previously. Washington ended up with 26 departures, 14 additions and six players who stayed after withdrawing from the portal.

Northwestern (10) had only one addition during the previous window, but with a quarters academic calendar, it’s difficult for the university to bring in mid-year transfers. Traditionally Northwestern does much better with late spring additions.

UCLA hired all-time great running back DeShaun Foster from within to replace former head coach Chip Kelly, who left the Bruins to be Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.

The three true newcomers as head coaches brought several of their former players with them. Like Fisch, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti signed 10 players from James Madison. Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith brought two key Oregon State players — Chiles and tight end Jack Velling — but convinced 10 Spartans to remain with the program.

Assistant changes — New coordinators could have as much impact as head coaches when it comes to player acquisition. Among the offensive coordinators who could influence movement include Kelly, Iowa’s Tim Lester, Penn State’s Andy Kotelnicki and Northwestern’s Zach Lujan. On the defensive side, keep an eye on Michigan’s Wink Martindale, Penn State’s Tom Allen (formerly Indiana’s head coach) and USC’s D’Anton Lynn.

Tight scholarship numbers — A few schools, specifically Penn State and Iowa, have more than 90 scholarship players right now and need to get to 85 by August. It’s possible, even likely, both still will add players in the portal. But both schools will have multiple exits this spring after posting the fewest (Iowa, seven) and tied for the second-fewest (Penn State, eight) departures during the last cycle.

Intraconference transfers — All but two Big Ten programs have added a player from within the conference, totaling 29. Purdue added the most (four) while neither Northwestern nor Iowa picked up any players from fellow Big Ten institutions.

Notes — There is an asterisk attached to the total number of in-conference transfers, however. Former Purdue receiver T.J. Sheffield committed to Michigan State but is looking for a new home. In addition, tackle Kadyn Proctor transferred from Alabama to Iowa in January, then left the Hawkeyes before spring practice kicked off last month with hopes of rejoining the Tide. Those numbers are listed as additions for the Spartans and Hawkeyes but will change this week. Also, Evers’ exit is not figured in as of yet.

(Photo of Kurtis Rourke: Rich Janzaruk / Herald-Times / USA Today)