The transfer portal opened this week, and University of West Florida football is once again watching its roster thin out. With 11 players entering the portal as of midweek, the Argos are facing the harsh reality of modern college athletics: success means losing your best talent.
The shift is dramatic. UWF football once attracted Division I transfers looking for a fresh start—players who struggled with coaching styles, grades, or playing time at bigger programs. Now, the pipeline flows the other way.
- “The D1s are now saying, let me go find a guy who’s got some experience to bring in here, a guy that we’ve already seen some tape on, whether it’s from another D1 program or D2,” UWF Athletics communications director Will Kennedy explained. High school recruits who once went straight to D1 now start at places like UWF, develop for a year or two, then get plucked by bigger programs.
The Price of Success
The money involved is substantial. Kennedy cited one UWF defensive lineman, Emory Mount Mitchell, who left for South Florida after last season for approximately $200,000. Another linebacker departed for $60,000. At the highest levels, the numbers are staggering—North Carolina paid $1.6 million to lure South Alabama’s quarterback away.
“At the D2 level, we don’t have that NIL, not yet,” Kennedy noted, acknowledging the competitive disadvantage.
Without NIL money to compete, UWF sells something increasingly rare in college football: the chance to win championships.
- Kennedy shared the story of a wide receiver who transferred from Texas Tech. After UWF won a share of the Gulf South Conference championship, the player was in tears. “This is the first thing I’ve ever won,” the receiver told him. “My high school team never made it to the playoffs. And at Texas Tech, we didn’t have a winning season the two years I was there.”
The Coaching Nightmare
For coaches like Kaleb Nobles, the constant roster churn creates impossible challenges. Kennedy described walking into the football office to find coaches scrolling through social media, hunting for players who’ve entered the portal. “That’s all day, every day for the next couple of weeks,” he said.
South Alabama coach Major Applewhite lost nine starters after spring practice this year, including his quarterback. The transfer portal opened before playoff teams even finish their seasons.
- “I think the NCAA is kind of Pandora’s Box with NIL and some of the stuff—you opened it, but now it’s like, okay, what do we do now when it’s not working maybe the way we thought it would?” Kennedy said.
As Kennedy put it, UWF is now “Double A” in college football’s minor league system, developing talent for the major leagues above while trying to build something sustainable below.
