Just saw Oklahoma State brought in 50 transfers under Eric Morris and Colorado took 43 and I had to sit down for a minute. Fifty players. That is an entire roster turnover in one offseason. We used to build programs with high school kids who came in as freshmen, lived in the dorms, ate in the dining hall together, and bled for the same jersey for four or five years. I remember when Coach Fran was recruiting the 1998 class and we were thrilled to land a kid from Arlington Heights who nobody else wanted. He became a tree-year starter at linebacker and still comes back for alumni events. That is how you build something that lasts. Not by renting a new roster every spring like you are shopping at a flea market.
The portal has completely destroyed the idea of player development. You cannot tell me that bringing in 50 transfers creates any kind of team chemistry or culture. These kids are showing up for a paycheck and a one-year rental. They do not know the fight song. They do not care about the history. They are gone the second a better NIL deal comes along. And the worst part is that the old way of recruiting, the way Gary Patterson built those great defenses in the late 2000s, that is dead forever. We used to find overlooked two-star kids from small Texas towns and turn them into All-Americans. Now those kids get poached by the portal before they even finish their redshirt year.
I know the game has changed and I know we have to adapt to survive in this new world. But watching programs overhaul their entire roster in one spring just makes me sad. There is no loyalty anymore. There is no patience. It is all instant gratification and who has the biggest bag. And we are all just supposed to pretend this is good for the sport.