The possibility of eliminating college football’s spring transfer window is officially on the table. The NCAA Football Oversight Committee this week recommended a proposal to the Division I Council to eliminate the 15-day April window and leave only the 30-day winter window, two people with knowledge of the decision said The athlete.

If the DI Council approves the change, it would go into effect this cycle. The proposal has received broad support in conferences and the American Football Coaches Association, one of the people said. The DI Council will next meet in person Oct. 8-9. Yahoo Sports first reported on the proposal.

Transfer portal windows are the periods of time when college athletes can enter the portal to play at a new school the following season. Players only need to enter their names within this period and are not required to select a new school before the window closes. This year’s winter portal runs from December 9 to January 7, while the spring portal runs from April 16 to April 30.

The spring portal window has been particularly frustrating for coaches who are finishing spring practice and don’t yet know their full team for the upcoming summer. There have also been cases of players transferring to a new school in the winter window and then transferring again in the spring window. The NCAA says the majority of players enter the portal within the first four weeks of the window opening, including 82 percent of 2024 men’s basketball players.

The change would come on the heels of a proposal by the Division I Council in June to reduce the total number of portal days from 45 to 30 (after reducing it from 60 to 45 a year ago). Currently, the football portal is open for 30 days in the winter and 15 days in the spring. Athletes whose head coaches leave would still have a 30-day window after the coach leaves under this proposal.

“When creating transfer windows several years ago, NCAA schools recognized that these windows may need to be adjusted over time as the transfer landscape evolves and we gain more information about student-athlete mobility,” Josh Whitman, Illinois athletic director and chair of the DI Council, said in a statement in June. “These proposals reflect ongoing evaluation and adjustment to transfer trends, and the data demonstrates that this adjustment would not materially impact the vast majority of transfer student-athletes in these sports. Introducing the proposals gives us an opportunity to hear from all key stakeholders as the environment evolves.”

The potential changes come amid what could be massive player movement next year, as the settlement in the House v. NCAA lawsuit, if approved by the judge, calls for roster size to be set at 105 players as part of the profit-sharing terms. Most rosters have more than 120 players, and fall training camp has even more. But there is concern that without a spring window, walk-ons, or players who are cut to 105 players in the spring and summer, would have limited opportunities to find a new place to play. The spring window is also a time when some players who don’t earn a starting spot in spring training decide to go elsewhere, and when coaches encourage players who won’t play much to look around. Student advocacy groups are expected to push back against the change.

The elimination of the spring portal could also have a detrimental effect on schools that have late coaching changes after the winter transfer window, as was the case at several prestigious schools this year following the resignation of Nick Saban.

The DI Council is expected to examine and discuss the proposal in the coming weeks before taking a decision.

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