Transfers - Let's Make This Real Easy

The Transfer Portal has been fun to watch, but let's be honest.  It is dumb.  The entire transfer process as it currently exists is dumb.  Why do Justin Fields and Tate Martell get waivers but Luke Ford doesn't?  People will try to explain some complicated reasons, but at the end of the day, whether a person can play immediately or sit out should not be a question.  Here's my idea to fix this stupid process, once and for all.

All college athletes on scholarship should have the ability to transfer and not sit out provided they meet a few simple qualifications. 

Those qualifications are:

1. You have never transferred before. - Everyone get's one freebie.  If you have already transferred at any point, then you have to sit out a year.  No exceptions.
2. You were not kicked out or did not flunk out of your previous school. - Basically, you have to be in good standing with your previous school.  When a school decides to remove an athlete from the team, they got a simple portal (haha) and register that the athlete is no longer part of their program for a disciplinary or academic reason.  Any student athlete who is registered as leaving their previous school on bad terms will be required to sit out one season at their new school.

That's it.  Plain and simple.  No special waivers, graduated players switching to majors their school doesn't have, no lawyers, no sick family members or distance requirements.  Just meet these rules.  And these rules should only apply to athletes on scholarship (at least in sports like football where they get full scholarships).  If you are a walk-on, you should be able to transfer at any time without penalty.

So what do you think?  I am just being stupid or should the answer be something this simple.

We Don't Just Give Out Scholarships

There has been a small controversy this week about the scholarship offer that Georgia recently gave to Quintavious Harrow. Harrow, listed at 5'10 and 180 pounds, played linebacker and safety at Carver Columbus. As we all know, Carver was also the home of mega-recruit Isaiah Crowell, one of the top running backs in the country who appears will pick between Georgia, Auburn, and Alabama on national signing day. Some in the media at labeling the offer to Harrow as a recruiting ploy to get Crowell. And while offering a close friend of another recruit never hurts a team's chances with a recruit, to say this is just a ploy to get Crowell is absurd. Here is why:

#1 - This is Georgia, not Alabama. We do not oversign our recruiting classes and unless a player makes a mistake (see Dexter Moody in 2009) we do not rescind scholarship offers. We don't just offer scholarships for the sake of offering.

#2 - The Ogletree boys. Last year, people claimed Georgia only offered Alexander Ogletree a scholarship to secure his talented brother. Alexander became a key special teams contributer in his freshman season and has the lead to be Georgia's starting fullback next fall.

#3 - We're not the only ones recruiting him. Harrow has shown interest from a number of schools, including Clemson and Alabama.

#4 - He just recently became eligible. Academics have been an issue, but he recently improved his scores enough to meet the requirements to play division 1. Georgia only offered a scholarship after he was eligible.

#5 - We have been recruiting him for a while, but we did not have the extra scholarship to offer. From the comments I have seen, the Georgia coaches have been talking to Harrow for a while. It just so happens the scholarship offer came last week, after AJ Green had announced his decision to go to the NFL (and thus opening another spot).

Throw in the fact that Harrow sports an impressive 40 time and we just lost another linebacker (Justin Houston) to the NFL and it is pretty clear this kid will be expected to contribute should he come to Athens. I'm not blind to think that the fact that he is Crowell's teammate played somewhat into the offer decision, but whether Crowell comes or not, Harrow is not just a throw away player.