Ohio State Football: Mass transfer portal exits will be the new norm

The Ohio State football program took a beating this past week as twelve players entered the portal. This will probably be the new normal.

The Ohio State football program will look totally different in 2024. With 12 players already in the transfer portal, including its starting quarterback Kyle McCord, the shake-up at the end of each season will become the new norm for Ohio State. It’s something that Ryan Day and his staff will have to navigate through each and every offseason.

Alamba has been suffering through this the past few seasons, with highly touted recruits who haven’t played fled via the transfer portal in search of playing time. It finally bit the Buckeyes this offseason as Kyle McCord, Jakob James, Kye Stokes, Jyaire Brown, Reid Carrico, Evan Pryor, Omari Abor, Victor Cutler Jr., Parker Lewis, Ryan Turner, Julian Fleming, and Cam Martinez are players who will be leaving the program.

Bear in mind that this is just the first transfer window, as there is another one in the Spring, that very likely will result in even more Buckeyes leaving the program. This means that Ohio State will have to fill the bottom of its roster each and every offseason with players from the transfer portal themselves just for depth purposes. And those players very likely won’t be as good as the players who will be leaving.

But this is what happens when the governing body of a major sport has no true power. It’s good for players like offensive lineman Jakob James, who spent four seasons with Ohio State and gave his all to earn playing time. It just wasn’t meant to be for him here. He should have the option to go somewhere else and play. I don’t believe it’s great for players like Victor Cutler and Parker Lewis who will be searching for their third school of their college career.

Regardless, this is the new norm of being a major power in college football. Schools like Ohio State, Alabama, and Georgia will all have to face the same battle.