NCAA Announces New Transfer Portal Window Dates, Rule Changes for CFP Teams

There will be one college football transfer portal window moving forward.

The NCAA announced Tuesday the D1 Administrative Committee approved a notification of transfer window dates for Jan. 2-16 in the upcoming cycle, although it still has to be finalized following Wednesday's meeting.

It also announced there is an exception for athletes playing on football teams that undergo head-coaching changes. Those players will have a 15-day window that starts five days following the coaching change to enter the transfer portal.

That window will open once a new coach is hired not when the old one is fired or leaves:

Last month, the NCAA announced the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee listened to student-athlete feedback and recommended a change to Jan. 2-16 from the initial recommendation that the transfer period last from Jan. 2-11.

What's more, it explained "student-athletes who are members of teams that participate in a postseason contest on or after Jan. 12 may initiate notification during a consecutive-five-day period beginning the day after their team's final postseason contest."

That is of particular importance because the expanded College Football Playoff lasts beyond Jan. 16.

This season's CFP national title game is scheduled for Jan. 19, 2026 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. If the CFP does eventually expand in future years, logic would dictate it may end even later in the calendar.

Such a change will allow players to remain on their current teams and help them in pursuit of the national title before then having an opportunity to enter the portal.

Under the current structure prior to this change, players could enter the transfer portal during two different windows. One was a 20-day window in December, while the other was a 10-day window in April.

Both of those created various issues, as teams in the CFP could lose players to the December window before even playing a postseason game. And the April window came after the completion of national signing day and left teams vulnerable to unexpected departures without a clear and obvious way to manage the rosters and replace departed talent. 

However, a spring window from the players' perspective meant they could assess where they stood on their respective rosters and depth chart during spring practice and perhaps make the best individual decision for themselves.

That spring window will no longer be an option once the NCAA moves to a single window in January.