Graney: Las Vegas Bowl coaches say transfer portal needs to change

Riley is USC’s coach whose team faces Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl on Friday at Allegiant Stadium. He’s a coach whose roster has lost near 20 players to the transfer portal since such a window of opportunity opened Dec. 9.

Lost former five-star recruits such as wide receiver Zachariah Branch out of Bishop Gorman High.

Riley is a coach who, like many across the country, is searching for answers.

“It’s a challenge,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that aren’t right about (the game) right now. This is a new world, and it all happened so fast. A lot of the planning was missed because of how accelerated things were.”

Riley and Texas A&M coach Mike Elko spoke Monday at Allegiant Stadium about how difficult it can be recruiting the portal (not to mention their own players to avoid them jumping into it) while preparing for a bowl game.

No easy answers

It’s a point Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin made recently when speaking about irrational points to the portal schedule opening before the College Football Playoff and other postseason games.

Penn State, a playoff participant that has advanced to the quarterfinals, actually lost its backup quarterback to the portal before its first-round matchup. Crazy.

Some believe there is an easy answer: Not to have a transfer portal in December. That it would solve all problems.

It’s a bad answer.

What about coaches who leave for bigger and better jobs immediately following the season? Why should Barry Odom have the right to jump at Purdue’s lucrative offer before his team plays in the LA Bowl, but such freedom be denied his UNLV players?

It’s odd to think about it given the program’s history, but USC is in a tougher spot than you might imagine. It hasn’t competed for a national championship in years, and other major programs have outbid the Trojans in name, image and likeness dollars.

This isn’t your father’s USC. Recruits understand this.

“A new age of college football,” said USC senior safety Bryson Shaw, who transferred to the Trojans after three years at Ohio State. “It’s a tough decision for everybody who enters the portal — people have to do what they feel is best for them and their family. We respect their decisions.

“But it’s tough. You put in a lot of work with these guys — early mornings and late evenings. It’s bittersweet when a guy leaves.”

If the transfer portal has changed college football, the NIL has nearly blown it up. Nothing wrong with players getting paid. Should have occurred a long time ago. But until the process is regulated at some level, you’ll have a free-for-all throughout the game.

Sluka not alone

Believe me — there will be more Matthew Sluka’s claiming they were promised money that wasn’t delivered. More names like the former UNLV quarterback calling out schools for not honoring what the player believed was a iron-clad commitment.

“Obviously, there needs to be some type of central legislation around what we’re doing,” Elko said. “Everybody who is in this thing on a daily basis knows it’s going to take a lot of people coming together. Those of us in it want some standard regulation so we know what all this is about. But we’re in it, so you do the best you can.”

They’re in it, the world of the transfer portal and NIL and all the other changes that have made a terrific game somewhat unsettled. It’s just the reality of things now. And not a popular one with those running programs.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.