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The NCAA Transfer Portal has been subjected to a lot of criticism since it went on full blast. A lot of head honchos don't have the best relationship with it like Nick Saban while others like Deion Sanders and Ryan Day have been using it quite a lot. Coach Mike Elko is quite in the middle about these things. He posits that the Texas A&M football program uses it but not everyone they look at will become a part of the Aggies, via Dan Morrison of On 3 Sports.
“The Transfer Portal is like the neighborhood garage sale. It’s not just go in and pick out whatever you want and everything’s good. Within the neighborhood garage sale, there’s a lot of really good things but it takes a lot of work. You’ve got to get out of the car and go look around the whole lot. You’ve got to look under some blankets. Like, you’ve got to find what’s right. I think that’s how you approach the Transfer Portal,” the Texas A&M football coach said.
How has the Texas A&M football squad benefitted from the transfer portal
From June to August of 2024 alone, Mike Elko and the Aggies have lost nine players due to the transfer portal. However, they were able to get some guys through it too. Solomon DeShields, Jake Bostick, Koli Faaiu, Shane Calhoun, Jared Zirkel, and Josh Celiscar have since joined the team. The Texas A&M football staff are meticulous when it comes to choosing players and Coach Elko outlined their process.
“It’s not just, ‘Oh, hey, here’s a shiny thing. I bet it’s gonna have nothing wrong with it,’ right? You kind of go in with a jaded thought process of, ‘Okay, why is he transferring? How is he gonna help us? What’s the character like? What’s he gonna do when he gets here? What’s his role gonna be? Is he gonna be able to handle his role?’ And you kind of put all of that together into a puzzle to project what it’s gonna look like on your roster. I think that’s how we approach it,” he noted.
So far, the Aggies have been benefitting from the transfer portal just like Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes. After all, they are the 25th-ranked team in the nation and wouldn't be able to get there without adapting.
