The NCAA spring transfer portal for football officially opens Tuesday and runs through April 30.
Though not as long as the month-long window in December, it’s one final opportunity for football players to find a new home, and still be eligible to play this fall.
For players in the SEC, the rules are a little bit different. Student-athletes from SEC schools who enter the spring transfer portal cannot move to another school in the conference if they want to be immediately eligible. That deadline passed on Feb. 2.
Any player who chooses another SEC program during the current period has to sit out a year.
So, what does this all mean for Georgia?
Kirby Smart was asked that question following G-Day at Sanford Stadium.
" Can I control it? I can't. If I concern myself with things I can't control, I won't live long. There's just too much out there. It's really one of those things of, 'Do you want to be here? Or do you not?'” Smart said. “They know how we do things by now. They all know. That (G-Day) was the easiest practice we've had all spring. They enjoyed it thoroughly. Guys want to be somewhere else I have no control over that.”
During the December window, 20 players left the program and all but walk-on running back Sevaughn Clark found a new home.
You can see them all below:
Although Georgia does not release scholarship numbers, it’s believed the Bulldogs currently have 88 players on scholarship and will need to find a way to get down to the NCAA-mandated 85 before the start of this season.
While fans can expect some attrition, it’s unclear what those numbers might be.
So, what about additions?
The Bulldogs added eight players from the portal, the most thus far under Kirby Smart.
Wide receivers Colbie Young (Miami), London Humphreys (Vanderbilt), and Michael Jackson III (USC), defensive lineman Xzavier McLeod (South Carolina), running back Trevor Etienne (Florida), and safety Jake Pope (Alabama) each signed with and played in G-Day.
Soon, former Stanford tight Benjamin Yurosek and UCLA long snapper Beau Gardner will arrive in Athens.
One position to keep an eye on is quarterback.
Currently, the only scholarship quarterbacks on campus are Carson Beck, Gunner Stockton, and freshman Ryan Puglisi, who has battled what Smart described as a “stress fracture” to his knee.
The Bulldogs also have walk-ons Sam Bush and Collin Drake and are adding walk-on Colter Ginn from Perry to the room. Ginn is actually a three-star who held offers from Charlotte, Middle Tennessee, and Georgia Southern.
The Bulldogs thought they had added a quarterback transfer in former UNLV starter Jayden Maiava, but he changed his mind the next day and signed with Southern Cal.
“Oh yeah, I always want to have, our goal is to have four (scholarship quarterbacks) and a really good walk-on. That’s the goal,” Smart said. “We think we’ve got a preferred walk-on kid (Ginn) that’s a really good player that’s coming in, excited about him. We thought he was a really good player in our state.”
Currently, the list of available quarterbacks in the portal is somewhat thin.
Most have already found new homes, with notable exceptions former Stanford backup Ari Patu and former Oklahoma State quarterback Gunner Gundy, son of Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy. Former Nebraska quarterback Jeff Sims is also in the portal.
“We’ll see what happens,” Smart said. “But I can’t predict the portal, I won’t even try to. I’m worried about our guys and the retention of our players.”
