MOVING THE CHAINS: See you later, alligator

First, a few words from Wikipedia:

The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association application,database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018,to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions.

Translation: the NCAA’s can of worms was open for business.

Now for a few words summarizing the opinions of the vast majority of the gentlemen who coach NCAA football teams:

The transfer portal is turning college football into a colossal s—t show.

Former Alabama coach Nick Saban says the transfer portal is a lot like free agency, since players can – for the most part – come and go as they please. Saban is right: this year alone there are almost 2,300 players in the transfer portal that, if divided evenly, equates to about 18 players per school.

So, as the coaches were saying, college football is now a colossal s__t show.

But don’t look for things to change anytime soon.

For one, NCAA President Charlie Baker doesn’t appear to have a problem with the transfer portal: ‘One of the things I hear from kids when I talk to them about this issue is, ‘coaches walk out of their contracts. What about us?’’ Baker went on to say he’s ‘not much on’ restricting player movement via transfers between schools.

Sidebar: Just wondering how transferring from one school to another impacts a player’s academic pursuits?

Or, if it’s even considered?

Since it appears that the transfer portal is here to stay, at least for the time being, I thought it would be interesting to a closer look at one of the 2,300 players mentioned previously. That player is former Florida Gator/now Georgia Bulldog Trevor Etienne, brother of Travis Etienne of the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s worth mentioning that Travis honored his scholarship, staying at Clemson for all four years of his football eligibility.

Trevor Etienne was the #2 running back at Florida for the past two seasons (2022 and 2023), playing behind Montrell Johnson, who was their #1 running back for the past three. Etienne knew from the very beginning, when he first signed for his scholarship, that he wouldn’t be the top dog – ‘er, Gator – in Gainesville.

On paper, Etienne and Johnson’s statistics have been comparable with respect to the number of carries and total rushing yardage, but Johnson has a knack for finding the end zone more often (27 TD’s for Johnson, and 14 for Etienne,). Additionally, and this is my opinion only, Johnson is more the tougher, grind-it-out style of runner, while Etienne is the elusive and quicker of the two.

Since it was apparent that the running back hierarchy wasn’t going to be any different in Gainesville for the 2024 season, Etienne decided to do an end-around and head north to Athens.

But here’s where it gets really interesting: Etienne’s rationale for transferring:

‘So I could stay, be running back two on a losing teamor go somewhere and you know, possibly [be] running back one and win a natty.’

It sounds good at first, but let’s take a closer look:

To be fair, Gator football has been on life support for the past 14 seasons, ever since Tim Tebow left in 2009. Their record during this time of 106 – 71 (60%) with four different coaches – and a 6 – 5 record in 11 bowl games – is far below the standards of a Gator Nation spoiled by the (now distant) successes of both Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer. Etienne was fully aware of these somber statistics when he signed his name to a scholarship for the orange and blue.

Here’s something else Etienne was fully aware of when he signed: Florida had just wrapped up their season with a losing record (6 – 7), their head coach (Dan Mullen) was fired before the season was over, and Etienne would be taking the field in his first year for a brand new coach (Billy Napier) who had no prior experience coaching for a Power Five team. Not exactly a National Championship-contending situation, by any means.

The point I’m trying to make is this: Etienne knew exactly what he was walking into.

That leads me to just one parting question I have for Mr. Etienne:

If you were the number two running back on a second-tier losing team,what makes you think you can be the number one running back on a top-tier winning one?

In closing, I have a parting comment for him as well – not as a Gator fan and alumnus, but as someone who still believes in the long forgotten sanctity of collegiate athletics:

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Scott Ludwig lives, runs, and walks in Senoia. His latest compilation of 101 columns, ‘Southern Accent’, complements ‘Southern Charm,’ ‘Southern Comfort,’ and ‘Southern Hospitality,’ his first three compilations. Other books in his Southern Exposure series include ‘Finding the Words,’ ‘Portraits of the South,’ and ‘let me tell you a funny story.’ All of his books can be found on his author page on Amazon.