Transfer Portal 2024-25

[mbenecke]

TE Isaac Hill is in the portal. He didn’t see the field last year as a freshman.

[mbenecke]

RB/Returner Justin Pegues is in the portal.

He returned the opening kickoff against Fordham for a touchdown last year.

[mbenecke]

WR Rakeem Smith is in the portal.

[mbenecke]

Per Rhys Patrykus, LB Sefa Saipaia, who transferred in from Ferris State earlier this year, is in the portal again as a grad transfer.

Lands at Western Michigan.

[BillyLP]

WR Rakeem Smith is in the portal.

Bummer. He was really coming on last year and I thought would be really dynamic in a spread offense like George runs.

[mbenecke]

DL Joe Shimko is in the portal. He redshirted in 2024 and didn’t appear in any games.

[mbenecke]

DB Jordan Dunbar is in the portal.

He transferred over from Kansas State in the spring, before the coaching change.

[mbenecke]

CB Jalen McClendon has committed to BG.

He was a standout at Tennessee State for Coach George. 2nd team all-conference and a finalist for the FCS National DPOY award.

[jpfalcon09]

Kitna is in the portal.

[footballguy51]

Is Coach George just not a softy like they want and instead he expects them to work? We saw this happen when Urban came here, except there was no portal. Instead, players just quit.

[jpfalcon09]

Is Coach George just not a softy like they want and instead he expects them to work? We saw this happen when Urban came here, except there was no portal. Instead, players just quit.

Logical answer is with spring ball over guys have a clearer idea of where they fit in with the new staff and schemes. Portal closes next Friday so it's a big risk for some to be taking this late in the process.

[JCFalcon08]

It’s sad to see the number of kids in the portal, many giving up a free education as they won’t find another school. In saying that, there are plenty out there to fill the open spots.

[hammb]

Is Coach George just not a softy like they want and instead he expects them to work? We saw this happen when Urban came here, except there was no portal. Instead, players just quit.

Logical answer is with spring ball over guys have a clearer idea of where they fit in with the new staff and schemes. Portal closes next Friday so it's a big risk for some to be taking this late in the process.

Could be a little of both.

The culture when Urban arrived was beyond toxic. I was in school and I knew and/or worked with a significant percentage of that roster. People cannot fathom how bad the culture was when he arrived. He also was certifiably insane doing things that simply aren't allowed today and would never fly.

But I knew more than a handful of kids that stuck through that Urban death camp of 2001 that count him as one of the greatest things to ever happen to them. Similarly I know a handful of kids that didn't stick through that camp that realize, looking back, they screwed up.

Obviously, things are drastically different these days with the ability to hit the portal and find other options. No matter what a hardass Eddie George may (or may not) be, there's no way it's anything similar to what Urban was doing. Safe money is a lot of guys realizing they're not in the plans the same way as they were. Also, many of us (*raises hand*) have spent the last 6 yrs saying our offensive scheme is dogshit. If the new staff is bringing in a more modern gameplan it drastically alters the types of talent that will be utilized. HFJ is probably my favorite offensive player since J5, but we're not likely to be targeting TEs 150x next season.

[mbenecke]

Moving from the pro-style old school offense Loeffler ran to the spread offense that Eddie/Partridge want to run is a massive shift. That naturally causes guys to be out of the picture, when you aren't having 2 tight ends on the field every play.

I think the culture was in a really good place with Scot in town, and I expect that to continue to be the case with Coach George and his staff. Bowling Green football is in a really good spot, from that standpoint. We have a large amount of roster turnover happening, which will be a challenge this fall, but I don't expect the culture to change much. We just have to build up our ability to win important games to get over the hump and win championships.

[mbenecke]

Rhys Patrykus of the Falcon Media Sports Network is continuously updating a spreadsheet that I find super helpful for this sort of thing:

This one tracking guys who have gone in the portal from BG or have committed here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... id=0#gid=0

I also found another (not from RP) tracking guys BG has offered:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... id=0#gid=0