I remember when fall camp meant you had a bunch of walk-ons fighting for a roster spot, not a bunch of transfer portal mercenaries trying to collect a paycheck. Back in the 1990s under Coach Sullivan, we had a linebacker who showed up unannounced, paid his own way, slept on a teammate's floor for two months, and by the end of the season he was starting against Texas in the old Southwest Conference. That kid had more heart than half these 4-star guys who transfer the second they don't get enough snaps in spring practice.
This talk about walk-on culture is dead and buried. The NIL money killed it. Why would some kid from a small Texas town grind tthrough two-a-days in August with no guarantee of a scholarship when he can go to Colorado or Oklahoma State and get handed a bag before he even steps on campus? The portal eliminated the whole idea of earning your spot. You used to have to prove yourself against the starters, take your licks in practice, wait your turn. Now if you don't start by week three, you're in the portal before the leaves change color.
I think about the 2005 squad and how many of those guys walked on before earning scholarships. That team had a defensive end who came in as a freshman walk-on, no offers out of high school, and by his senior year he was leading the Mountain West in sacks. You cannot build that kind of loyalty when everyone is looking at their phone waiting for a better offer. The spring transfer window being eliminated is a band-aid on a bullet wound. The damage is already done.
Fall camp used to be about watching the walk-ons run through drills hoping to catch a coach's eye. Now it is about figuring out which 20 new faces from the portal are actually going to stick around past September. It is a different world and not a better one.