GUEST POST: Patrick Mayhorn's Non-Conference Previews: Colorado State
Head coach Jay Norvell is hitting the transfer portal hard to open his CSU tenure.
SITE STUFF: I’m still taking time off, but there remains plenty of content in the pipeline thanks to a heavy-hitting lineup of guest posters.
We continue with a look at Michigan’s opening opponent from Patrick Mayhorn, whose outstanding work you can find at The Outside Zone and Flipping the Field. He’s now covered the entire non-conference schedule for us.
If you missed it, here’s Hawaii:
And here’s UConn:
Coming soon: Thicc Stauskas’ Big Ten football position rankings.
There’s an interesting dynamic in the way that the transfer portal is discussed in college football circles. Since the passing of a rule allowing for one free transfer without losing a year of playing time, just about all of the (seemingly endless) discourse about college football’s hottest topic has revolved around the damage done to smaller programs and the growing concentration of power atop the sport.
Just over a week ago, the college football world collectively lost its mind at reports that Pitt wide receiver and 2021 Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison was considering a departure from the Panthers, potentially out of a desire to join another transplant, former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams, at USC. There’s been no easier content in college athletics since about July of 2021 than that which either alludes to or directly participates in the sport’s newest moral panic – widespread concern is tremendous for business.
Yet, the only truly tangible, measurable impacts of the portal through its infancy have almost exclusively lived elsewhere.
Power programs have plucked players from lesser schools. In the 2021 cycle, to name a few, Georgia grabbed safety Tykee Smith from West Virginia, Notre Dame plucked interior lineman Cain Madden from Marshall and Alabama nabbed Tennessee linebacker Henry To’o To’o and Ohio State wide receiver Jameson Williams.
All three teams were strong, with the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide facing off for the title. But it’s hard to say that their success was a direct result of the portal in the way that the conversation might indicate. No team has found serious national title hopes when they previously had none through raiding the portal.
Where the portal has had a real, noticeable impact is in the levels below blue blood, positively and negatively. Suffering tenures have been put out to pasture through mass exodus, like Todd Graham’s at Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors had (well-founded) issues with their coach and because they had the freedom to do so, they took action. Several who were disgruntled with Graham decided to return upon his firing.
On the other side of the spectrum, the advent of this new talent market has offered a tremendously valuable asset to coaches beginning a new tenure and transitioning into a new system or culture.
Sustainable or no, Mel Tucker won 11 games without an offensive line or cornerbacks because he found Kenneth Walker III at a yard sale. Thomas Hammock turned an 0-6 team into MAC champions with Spartan cast-off Rocky Lombardi directing his offense. Blake Anderson brought quarterback Logan Bonner with him from Arkansas State to Utah State and took the Aggies from 1-5 to 11-3.
Western Kentucky liked Houston Baptist’s offense so much that it hired offensive coordinator Zach Kittley and told him to bring as many players as he wanted (he carried along a good portion of his offense) to flesh out an air raid system. The Hilltoppers jumped from 5-7 to the Conference USA title game. Kansas managed just a meager 2-10 record but leaned on plenty of players who travelled with head coach Lance Leipold from Buffalo, beat Texas and came within a score of both TCU and West Virginia in the season’s final three games.
Beyond the speedy rebuilds, Utah pulled QB Cameron Rising from Texas, RBs T.J. Pledger from Oklahoma and Tavion Thomas from Cincinnati and DB Brandon McKinney from Washington to win its first Pac-12 title and go to Rose Bowl. Baylor added Dartmouth pass catcher Drew Estrada and LSU nose tackle Siaki Ika and won the Big 12.
The abstract portal may generate infinite takes, but its physical manifestation has very specific, identifiable use cases – making easier a quick turnaround, and plugging a few holes to push well-built programs over that last obstacle.
For Colorado State as it enters a new era, firing Steve Addazio and tabbing Nevada head coach Jay Norvell as his replacement, the quick portal turnaround is priority No. 1 with a bullet. It has been since Norvell arrived in early December.