The Opening Drive 1/7: The College Football Calendar is Broken
The current systems serves every college football program poorly.
The College Football Playoff title game is on January 19. The transfer portal closes three days prior. Brian Hartline was hired by USF on the morning of National Signing Day. Ole Miss is currently trying to field a full staff after half of its assistants signed contracts with LSU. College football is broken — and this time, it’s not an NIL conversation.
Coaches had long clamored for an early signing day due to the increasing popularity of early enrollment. In an unforeseen twist, that early signing day rendered the traditional February signing day essentially an afterthought. This was largely a step in the right direction, as it allowed student-athletes to experience signing day, walk at graduation in the spring, and still take advantage of early enrollment.
The introduction of the transfer portal in 2018, while a necessary option for players, brought with it an entirely new set of issues. Those issues didn’t significantly affect the calendar until 2021, with the introduction of transfer portal windows. That implementation included a window that opened after the fall sports season and another at the end of spring. For football, this meant players could enter the portal either during bowl season or after spring practice. For Buckeye fans, Joe Burrow opting to transfer after spring football is probably the most notable example.
The winter portal window also led to players opting out of bowl games in far greater numbers than in previous years. The second portal window was removed in a vote in late 2025, meaning that any player wishing to transfer must now declare between January 2 and January 16. Exceptions exist for players affected by a head coaching change, and teams playing in the national championship game will receive an additional four-day window from January 20 to January 24. What isn’t accounted for, particularly for playoff teams, is the difficulty of managing the portal while simultaneously preparing for the most important games of the season.
The coaching carousel only compounds the problem. From the Ohio State perspective, Brian Hartline being named head coach at USF on the morning of National Signing Day is a prime example. That move nearly cost the Buckeyes their premier wide receiver recruit in the class, Chris Henry Jr. One could also reasonably argue that Hartline splitting duties contributed to the offense sputtering in the Big Ten title game against Indiana. Ryan Day’s actions seemed to support that notion, as he took play-calling duties away from Hartline for the Cotton Bowl against Miami.
I was among the few who initially didn’t expect major issues, given Ryan Day’s background and comfort on the offensive side of the ball. However, given how clunky the offense looked against two very solid defenses, it’s fair to say there were problems.
Zooming out, the Ohio State situation is a microcosm of the broader state of the sport — especially when compared to what unfolded at Ole Miss. Lane Kiffin had been tied to multiple jobs throughout the season, and matters came to a head during the final week. Ole Miss was guaranteed a playoff berth with a win, and likely even with a loss. The Rebels won their final game and immediately needed to pivot to playoff preparation.
There was just one problem: their head coach was being aggressively pursued by conference rivals Florida and LSU. Kiffin ultimately chose LSU, but he didn’t go alone. This is where the issue becomes glaring. Six offensive assistant coaches followed him. All six coached in Ole Miss’ quarterfinal win against Georgia. Yet, as Thursday night’s semifinal against Miami approaches, it remains unclear whether any of those six will be on the sideline.
A College Football Playoff team playing for a berth in the national title game without the bulk of its offensive staff is absurd — and it perfectly illustrates how broken the current calendar truly is.
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How do we fix it? I think the transfer portal is probably the easiest place to start. One window makes total sense, but it should be at the end of the spring semester. That would allow teams to navigate the postseason while also giving players the opportunity to go through spring position battles and get a clearer sense of where they stand. An added benefit is that bowl games could potentially regain some of their integrity, with fewer opt-outs. Players also wouldn’t be rushed into decisions and could remain focused on academics throughout the spring semester.
The coaching carousel is far trickier to navigate and would be nearly impossible to regulate. The reality is that not all teams end their seasons on the same day, which makes a college version of “Black Monday” unrealistic. Schools fire coaches because they believe a change is necessary, and they understandably want to jump-start the reboot process as quickly as possible. The only potential fix I see on this front would be the implementation of universal coaching contracts. Those contracts would run from January 1 through December 31. Nothing else would be regulated — just the timing.
Unfortunately, we all know the NCAA is one of the most reactionary organizations on the planet and will likely never address these issues head-on. So what would you do to fix them?
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