Really gets me going this time of year? Everybody is talking about Oklahoma State bringign in 50 transfers and Colorado grabbing 43 like it is some kind of revolution. I just shake my head and think back to the 1998 team that went 6-5 with a bunch of kids who actually wanted to be here. Coach Fran built that squad with junior college castoffs and walk ons who had something to prove. We did not have some glossy ESPN top 100 newcomers list full of mercenaries. We had a quarterback who ran the option so well that we almost knocked off USC in the Sun Bowl that year. That team had heart and you cannot buy that in the portal no matter how much NIL money you throw around.
Now you look at this modern era and programs are just swapping rosters like they are playing fantasy football. The spring portal window just got eliminated starting in 2026 and it is about time. But let me tell you something about our Horned Frogs right now. While everybody else is chasing these five-star portal guys and trying to buy a championship overnight, we are sitting here in June with voluntary workouts and nobody is talking about us on those ESPN lists. And I love it. That is exactly how the 2000 squad operated. We came out of nowhere and shocked the WAC because we had a bunch of juniors and seniors who had been in the system for three years. They knew the offense blindfolded. They knew each other. That is what builds championships not some roster you throw together in six weeks.
I do not care if we do not have a single name on ESPN's top 100 newcomers. I care about whether the offensive line can block the veer and whether our defense can stop the run on third and short. Coach Patterson used to say that games are won in January through July not in December through the portal. We used to develop kids for four years before they ever saw the field. Remember that 2008 defense that carried us to 11 wins? Those guys were freshmen and sophomores taking their lumps against teams like Oklahoma and Texas. They got beat down for two years before they became the relentless unit that nobody wanted to play.
That is the part that makes me confident about where we are heading. While other programs are trying to plug holes with transfer after transfer every single year, we are building something sustainable. I would rather have a roster full of guys who have been in the weight room together since January than a bunch of names off a rankings list. Let Oklahoma State have their 50 transfers. Let Colorado get all the attention from Deion Sanders and his circus. I will take the kid who grew up wanting to be a Horned Frog and stayed when things got hard. That is how you win in November when the weather turns and the games actually matter.