OPINION: Miami expected to target a lot more talent in second portal window, with several roster departures to come

Things are about to get really crazy with the transfer portal opening for business Tuesday, so we thought we would get you ready.

In case you missed it, college football has changed. It has become a business. And business can be very cold.

Check your feelings at the door.

Every Miami scholarship football player is getting paid right now by the Canes Connection collective, no different than the players on an NFL team. But those checks come with two-way obligations and expectations here and at every other school around the country. Those meet their judgement day by Tuesday.

Just like you see NFL players get cut from their teams every August, you are about to see a lot of college players getting cut at the University of Miami and beyond.

Or cutting themselves from the current roster.

This new spring transfer portal window is a joint opportunity for programs to evaluate their rosters and identify positions of need before the season kicks off and for players to consider new homes.

You will hear different spins as the departures mount, but they are all noise. The bottom line is most departures to the portal that you see are usually the result of a breakdown in those responsibilities and expectations.

A departure probably means one of three things:

*The player was forced out for not doing the right things and / or not being a positive contributor to a winning culture.

*The player may have been beat out for prominent playing time and be seeking a better situation or being guided to do so.

*Or space could be being cleared for additions that provide an opportunity for the team to get better.

Keep one thing in mind. In the portal era, rarely has Miami lost a player it really wanted to keep. Miami’s NIL situation is no longer the best in the country, but it is very good. For it to stay that way, money must be allocated wisely and be constantly under evaluation.

The spring college football transfer portal window will run through Tuesday, April 30.

Graduate transfers must enter the portal by May 1.

The Hurricanes are approximately five scholarships above the NCAA-imposed 85-scholarship limit after the recent departures of Henry Parrish and Nyjalek Kelly and there is an anticipation that the Hurricanes will be in the market for 6-8 transfer additions in the portal.

That means there will need to be about 13 more cuts/departures and that some really tough decisions by Mario Cristobal and staff lie ahead.

It’s a brutal deal, no argument, no fun for the parties involved. But to not make an attempt to get better right now would be program malpractice at Miami and elsewhere, and as long as this system remains in place it is safe to say you will never find a day where Cristobal wastes an opportunity to try to improve Miami. He came here to try to win titles and restore respect and respectability.

I am expecting the Miami shopping list next week to include the following:

1 RB

1-2 WR

1-2 DL

1 LB

1-2 DB

Spring practice the past month became like NFL minicamps where coaches around the country had an opportunity to evaluate their teams. If there are going to be cuts, because like Miami they have more players than they can keep, they have to set criteria for decisions.

And is it not a very delicate grading curve? For a program with designs on competing for conference titles or making a college football playoff, it is intentionally very harsh. The knife is sharp.

How good is each player? Are they really good enough to contribute to winning a championship?

Are they healthy enough to do it?

Do they make good decisions? Or do they enjoy partying like many of their fellow college students more than they love football?

Do they make the team culture better or are they culture killers?

Are they good teammates?

Are they good human beings?

What is their NIL deal? Are they making more than what their real value is, tying up valuable resources? 

If they are released, can they be replaced with somebody better?

All of these factors play a role in a well-run college football program.

So brace yourselves for the judgement day which will come locally after Saturday’s spring game. Sunday and Monday will be tension-filled for many of the 90 guys presently on scholarship and also difficult for the coaches managing the toughest part of the job, telling guys they are not good enough or carrying on well enough to stay.

There is a saying that people should be careful for what they wish for. Maybe that applies for the college football player receiving NIL money right now.

But, quite honestly, if you asked all those 90 guys now benefitting from the modern day NIL and transfer portal world at Miami, there would be very few who would say that they would rather play for free and not have the performance and behavioral expectations that come with their money.

It works both ways now.

“It’s as simple as we need to get to a certain number on the roster,” Cristobal said. “Football doesn’t really tell lies. Positions are won out there, some guys attack it and do a great job and some guys just flat out fold. Spring football is to find out who are the guys that can step up and play winning Miami Hurricanes football.

“We are always progressive forward and very proactive with our roster decisions with who is on the way out and who is on the way in. … We are always going to play the best guys.”

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