Florida Football: Transfer portal is a stopgap, not a long term solution

There is no getting around that to survive in modern college football that a team has to be able to pull talented players out of the transfer portal. Dan Mullen made it a staple of his approach while in charge of Florida football.

And while a team can pick up talent as needed out of the portal, it needs to be viewed as a supplement to roster building and not a long-term solution.

Florida Football: Have cake, but sparingly

Florida football had several transfer portal candidates on campus this past weekend that Billy Napier and crew are trying to woo to come to Gainesville. Given the current state of the Gator’s roster heading into 2023, the only way for Florida to put together a competitive squad is via the portal. 

From the visits, the Gators have already secured the commitment of linebacker Deuce Spurlock, who will be transferring in from Michigan. As it stands now, Florida has grabbed five players out of the portal.

Successful teams have found ways to poach talent out of the portal to reload in a hurry. TCU, the team about to play for a national title, took 14 guys out of the portal in 2022. Our neighbors to the west, aka FSU, took 14 guys as well and had their best season in quite some time. Even Alabama took five guys out of the portal and had the 6th highest-ranked Transfer Portal class in 2022.

But you know who didn’t take anyone out of the portal in 2022?

Georgia.

Give Kirby Smart credit, as much as we don’t want to, that the Bulldogs have a rock-solid foundation built on high-end recruiting that can fill gaps with guys already accustomed to the program.

Napier, from what we can tell, wants to do the same with Florida football. He doesn’t necessarily want to make it a habit to always have to get talent from elsewhere. When a coach recruits a player, and that player grows with a program, then it is easier for that player to have to buy in with the culture the coach has established.

When one-year mercenaries are brought in every year, it is significantly harder to establish that buy it. This is where Mullen’s house of cards fell in 2021.

Yes, for Florida football to survive in 2023 it is going to have to grab three or four more guys out of the portal because right now 55% of the 77 players on Florida’s 2023 roster will either be true freshmen or sophomores. But if Napier is continuing to have to return to the portal year after year, it’s a sign that players aren’t being developed and/or recruited.

We’ve said it before, Napier is a builder, and his vision is long term. Hopefully the need for transfer portal guys for next season is a short-term solution.