The transfer portal promises players freedom, but that comes at a price. With the portal closing on January 16, 2026, players still waiting to find a school are stuck in it. But what actually happens to the players who are left in the transfer portal after the deadline closes?

“So we’re just talking about the 136 FBS teams. 1,200 of them are still active,” Josh Pate explained on his podcast. “They are still in there. So, to give everyone a little catch-up here, the portal closed last weekend. The rule isn’t that you have to have signed by the time it closes. The rule is you have to be in by the time the portal closes.

Right now, the portal is closed, according to the NCAA, which means if you’re not already in it, you can’t transfer the rest of the year. 1,210 are still active in that portal, meaning they have not signed anywhere. I’m just telling you, people can like it or not; it’s a reality that several of those guys will never play football again.”

Players often take the bold step and enter the portal in search of a better NIL deal or playing time. But many of them don’t even find a team. Back in 2021, 1,427 FBS players entered the portal; among them, 42% didn’t find a new home, and 4% withdrew from the portal. The worst part is 13% of them have to settle down for lower FBS or FCS teams.

This portal cycle, a total of 10,965 NCAA football players entered the portal across all levels, and many found new homes. However, the vast majority of these players remain in a state of uncertainty. Of that total, 6,671 players have yet to secure a new home.

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In 2025, Houston Christian’s offensive tackle Rodney Leaks entered the portal after his freshman year due to a coaching change, which caused him to miss a full football season and a year of classes. The same happened to Iowa and Washington State’s punter, Max Hoskins, who transferred twice in search of a starting role but ultimately had to leave football because he couldn’t find a proper fit or playing time.

Now, players can try to return to their former team, but even that’s a risky gamble. It depends on the program whether they want them back and on position availability. Now, the chaos doesn’t seem to stop, but Josh Pate has a solution.

Josh Pate’s ultimate guide to stop portal chaos

College football faces serious chaos as the playoffs and the transfer portal create a mess for teams still fighting for the national championship. Coaches like Dan Lanning publicly called out the entire thing; it looks like change will take time.

But Josh Pate has a simple solution: the first step is “Move Week 1 up a week.” With Week 0 becoming increasingly common, this adjustment aligns the schedules for teams like Iowa State and Kansas State, who play in Ireland.

Then comes the conference championship that should be played on Thanksgiving weekend. This way, they don’t clash with other important games. Then he also wants bowls that are played after the regular season to mean more. Six specific bowl games matter more for entering the playoffs.

Then he wants to announce the playoff teams right after Thanksgiving, with the first round of playoff games played on campus the first Saturday of December. Then the second round is next Saturday, and then the semifinals at neutral sites the following Saturday. The championship game stays on New Year’s Day. So, this way it doesn’t stretch all the way to mid-January, and the team gets a chance to use and evaluate the spiral properly.