Welcome back to The Process. today I want to get into the Transfer Portal and what my thoughts are from what I see and hear. Being a coach with over 30 years of experience in professional, collegiate, high school and elite organizations I understand the recruiting process, how it works for many and how for many now it is just one in many changes that I think hurts college athletics.
For the past 11 years I have been a nationwide college athletic recruiting consultant and advisor. In those 11 years I have assisted D1 D2 D3 NAIA and JUCO level kids and been a National Advisor of the Year 5 Times. When I take on a client we talk about knowing how you have the "Right Fit" school and program when you make your commitment.
One of the many reasons I see why people are for the transfer portal is they say coaches can move around and there is no loyalty to schools and programs and coaches are all about the money. I totally understand what you are saying and in the most part I agree with your sentiments. I believe there has to be a guide to coaches and whether they can move on, up or continue to be in the coaching chain. I see so many coaches who get let go for for breaking laws and rules that really should cause them to never coach again but they get another chance and make huge money elsewhere. If you were involved in hiring escorts for recruits, players and others how is it possible for you to be let go, get paid some sort of buyout and then get hired by another NCAA program. This really perplexes me and has me talking to friends and other coaches shaking my head.
Other coaching switches I can see. Coaches who work and do things the right way should be able to constantly look for bigger and better things. Look at society now. The average person switches jobs every 2-3 years. Gone is the old school way of spending 25-40 years with the same company from start to finish. There are many good young coaches who put in the long hours address their job with ethics and values and quite frankly EARN their way into a bigger school and better position. I know I talk to my clients, players and parents all the time about my philosophy of work ethic, earning your way and handling yourself the right way during everything you do.
This now brings us to the modern day Transfer Portal or "FREE AGENT PERIOD" as it really should be where you have so many kids come and go each year because of the NCAA's decision to grant extra years and also because of the changing the transfer rules thus making it easily accessible to change schools with no accountability. Used to be if you went from a D1 school to another you had to sit out a year unless moving down in level. There also were other rules about where you could transfer and so on. These days are gone. Just as in society, accountability is not an option now and kids can transfer for any reason. Often the blame is on the coaches at the school and how they did not handle athletes such as myself well and so on. We see it everyday and all throughout the land in our Summer or Travel ball industry. Kids switch organizations year to year, start their own teams and find and blame any reason for not fighting through adversity. I get it. There will always be malcontented kids. There will always be coaches that play favorites and really have no business trying to organize and run a team program. Today's expectations are different. In my day there were probably 2-3 programs or organizations state wide that if you made the team then you deserved to be there. No questions, no explanations. These teams were run by people who were the best at what they did and it was truly an honor to make their team and play. Now we have all levels but so so many people calling their organizations elite when that is just not the case. We are in everyone participates, everyone plays, everyone has fun and there was no separation of talent. Kids that did not make these teams worked hard in their rec or home community group to get better. Now we just say we were done dirty and switch teams.
This is really how the transfer portal is. Ok I was good enough to come to a school and work my hardest to EARN a position and the RIGHT TO play. Nothing is guaranteed, you gotta compete. You gotta work, you have to persevere and have a will. Unfortunately, because you are not starting or getting what you believe is the playing time you deserve, you easily just go in and say there are other places that will take me. What I think this actually does is make you not accountable for your choice or decision.
Last but not least it used to be that 6-7 percent of HS athletes went on to play college level sports. Because of the portal, the last 2 years you have seen this percentage go down into the mid to high 5 percent levels. The Transfer Portal is taking opportunities away from high school kids on a yearly basis.
Appreciate all the feedback and thoughts I get back. If you have an athlete in high school in grades 8-12 and they are looking to play in college feel free to go to our website, www.totalsportsrecruiting.com and contact me directly to evaluate and come up with the best individual game plan for your athlete.
Coach Tom
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