NIL and the transfer portal have radically changed college sports, and coaches now struggle to keep track of who is on their team, and who is leaving for a better offer, at any given time.
And if coaches can barely keep up with all the transfers, the poor souls running social media and writing sports information releases for the schools have it even tougher.
Just take a look at what happened to the Auburn Tigers Saturday morning. The team landed former five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold as a transfer from Oklahoma. He followed in the footsteps of five-star recruit Deuce Knight, who committed during the early signing period.
And the Tigers still had Walker White, a former four-star recruit who played in only one game last season as a freshman.
So the Auburn social media team posted a great compilation image of the three quarterbacks, with the banner, “The Highest Rated Quarterback Room in Auburn History.”
You can probably guess what happened next. On3 Sports reported White plans to enter the transfer portal.
Auburn quarterback Walker White plans to enter the transfer portal, a source tells @On3sports.https://t.co/wMrfFrdlE6 pic.twitter.com/wOvuDNI52K
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) December 14, 2024
Auburn deleted the post soon after that news broke. BroBible.com saved the deleted image.
As noted, NIL deals and the transfer portal are changing things for everyone in college sports. On Saturday, Marshall opted out of playing in the Independence Bowl after a mass exodus of players to the transfer portal. Louisiana Tech will take Marshall’s place.
