Washington State Cougars football: Who’s in and Who’s out – The portal speaks
As the transfer portal winds down after spring practices, this is a good time to review the comings and goings within the Washington State Cougars football program since the beginning of 2022.
It’s been a busy few months in Pullman. Since the beginning of the year, 18 Washington State Cougars players have entered the Transfer Portal, while 5 new players are coming into the program.
In November, former Defensive Coordinator Jake Dickert became the new WSU Head Coach. He hired a new group of assistants to help him get the Cougars back to the top of the Pac-12. As with any change in management, there will be personnel turnover. And the WSU Cougars had plenty of that.
The new reality
Welcome to college football in 2022. For lack of a better term, free agency has come to the NCAA. Regular students change schools all the time; it’s nothing new. Under the old system, student-athletes didn’t have the same flexibility.
Not only do players get a free transfer, but that new reality completely changed big-time college sports. Added to new rules concerning a player’s ability to earn money from their Name, Image, and Likeness, it created a system close to free agency.
The transfer portal has opened opportunities for student-athletes to find a better fit for their talents than where they were. Without the recent ability to transfer, players such as Joe Burrow and Justin Fields wouldn’t have become the success stories they are now.
So what has the Transfer Portal brought and taken away from the Washington State Cougars? Did the Cougs come out ahead?