Since the launch of the transfer portal in 2018, the college sports world has completely changed. Teams can buy players, players can change schools every year, and there are minimal restrictions.
Reid Carrico, who transferred from Ohio State to West Virginia in 2024, knows exactly what the modern process entails. After the conclusion of this past season, Carrico decided to stay at West Virginia for his fifth and final year of college football.
“I knew I wasn’t going to leave,” Carrico said. “Other guys that decided to leave here put in multiple years with the old staff, and I can understand how they could be like, ‘I am just going to go get a fresh start somewhere else,’ but for me, I was like, I already went through that whole portal process once, and it was a mess, so I am not doing that again.”
Carrico played three seasons under Ryan Day and received minimal playing time. He entered the portal after the 2023-2024 season looking for a fresh start, where he decided to transfer to the Mountaineers for his final two seasons.
There are two portal windows in college football. In these windows, teams and players are allowed to do whatever they want in regard to recruiting, money, and who they talk to. Reid Carrico was a guy who flew under the radar but was behind NFL talent at Ohio State.
“I’ve heard a lot of coaches go with the idea of speed dating, and it really is. I was in the portal through the bowl season in 2023. I was at six different schools in seven days. It was bizarre. I was bouncing around all over the place.” Carrico said.
This is the reality for every transfer in the portal, including 29 transfers for West Virginia this past portal period. Teams will have spring practice until early April, when spring games will take place and another portal period will begin.
That second portal period will open on April 16 and close on April 25.
