PSU Football
News & Information
News—Oct. 15, 2025
New Details on Transfer Portal after Coaching Changes
On3 is reporting that the NCAA has issued “new guidelines” to schools regarding the Transfer Portal in the event of coaching changes/new hires.
On Oct. 8, the NCAA Division One Administrative Committee approved a plan creating a single annual 15-day winter transfer portal window for ALL FBS/FCS players in January (including grad transfers for the first time). The plan takes effect immediately and will run initially from Jan. 2 to 16, 2026 (with an additional 5 days for players on teams in the CFP Championship Game).
On3 says that the NCAA has also notified schools that players on teams where a coaching change has been made in-season (effectively July 1 to Jan. 1) must wait until the official January 2 portal window opens to place their names in the portal. And they must also wait until 5-days after the new coach is hired to do this. Players would then get a 15-day transfer window at any point between January 2 and the following June 30. If a new coach is hired out-of-season between Jan. 2 and the following June 30, players must wait 5 days after the new hire is announced and then they get a special 15-day portal window. EXAMPLE A—if a new coach is hired on February 1, the players on that team get a 15-day portal window that opens on/or about Feb. 6. EXAMPLE B—if a new coach is hired on Nov. 1, the players on that team must wait until the following January 2 to enter the portal. Final player decisions on a destination school can be made outside of portal openings.
From a Penn State perspective, this new rule guidance means that Pat Kraft and Terry Smith won’t face a sudden mass departure of players until the regular season is complete. This would have occurred under the old rule where the 30-day portal window opened immediately after a coach’s dismissal, or if the new 15-day window was permitted to open 5-days after a new PSU coach was hired in October/November. Although, there could still be some who have played fewer than 5 games that could still opt-out of the remainder of the 2025 season to preserve their red-shirt.
On3 goes on to report that players in the 2025 season are still expected to publicly announce their portal departures in November and December, and sources have told On3 to expect “silent commitments before the portal officially opens” on January 2.
