NCAA rules in favor of harsh punishments for schools that circumvent transfer rules
· Yahoo Sports
The NCAA announced Tuesday it has ruled in favor of adopting new punishments for schools that circumvent the transfer portal window.
Effective immediately, schools that sign players outside of the transfer portal will have automatically triggered penalties, including “a suspension of the respective sport’s head coach for 50% of a season and a fine of 20% of that sport’s budget.”
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There is only one transfer portal window now in college football, which was open from Jan. 2-16, 2026. The new rules in place look to patch a loophole that Jake Retzlaff used to play at Tulane.
In June, Retzlaff faced a seven-game suspension for violating BYU’s honor code. Both portal windows had passed, but Retzlaff withdrew from BYU, enrolled at Tulane and walked onto the team.
With the passing of the new rules, players will not be able to do that without their new school facing stiff penalties.
No longer can a player be picked off by a school with a bigger budget after a good performance in spring camp.
“This change addresses gaps in the transfer and tampering policies that have allowed for abuse, but we acknowledge that there is more work to do,” said Josh Whitman, chair of the Division I Cabinet and athletics director at Illinois, in a statement.
“Thanks to the new, more streamlined structure for Division I decision-making, we were able to take a good idea that originated with practitioners, vet it and approve it, all in a matter of weeks. We believe closing this loophole simplifies things for student-athletes and holds schools accountable for their actions.”