Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall advocates for an earlier season schedule to align transfer windows with the academic calendar, aiming to fix the chaotic overlap between playoffs and semesters.
Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall understands that some changes in college football can be for the good of the sport.
Earlier this spring, he noted that as a first-year coach with Florida, it would have been ideal for him to add players in the transfer portal after spring football. However, once he has an established program with his players, the transfer portal before the summer becomes more of a hinderance than help.
The NCAA no longer allows transfers after spring football, which is probably good for the sport after seeing the headache that December and January has become for head coaches and players in the Wild West of the transfer portal.
For similar reasons, Sumrall wants to see the calendar change for the season.
During an appearance on "Next Up with Adam Brenneman" on Friday, Sumrall argued the regular season should be moved up so the College Football Playoff ends during the first week of January so that the transfer window can line up with the start of the second semester, which begins for most schools after the first week of the new year.
“But we still have this thing here in college football called school, all right,” Sumrall said, via a transcription from On3. “Like, our guys, some of them are in class right now. I think the transfer portal window, when we finish the season first, when the second semester starts, is all kind of off.
"So, I think the counter, maybe move the start of the season up, maybe amend what the season looks like. Whether that’s less regular season games, if you want to extend the playoffs, great. But to me it’s more about why can’t we end on, let’s say, January 5th or 6th, not January 26th.”
The problem, with moving the regular season up is that games will begin earlier in August. One issue is that August is an extremely hot time of year. The second is that many students are still enjoying summer break and not back at campus until later in August.
The CFP is expected to expand, which could push the national championship game later into January or potentially into February.
That isn't ideal either.
When it comes to the schedule, there's more problems than solutions for a sport that's becoming more professional than academic.
