Rivals rankings director and transfer portal analyst Adam Friedman has a trio of predictions on what could bring about major transfers and what the future could look like for Florida and Michigan.
RELATED: Transfer receiver Donaven McCulley to take Big Ten visit this weekend
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COORDINATOR CHANGES WILL SPUR MAJOR PLAYER MOVEMENT
Barring a NFL team plucking a head coach from a major college football program, it doesn’t look like there will be many seismic coaching vacancies that need to be filled. That means we should expect a number of moves at the coordinator level and that will lead to some of the biggest transfers this cycle.
There are already multiple coordinator vacancies including at Oklahoma, Florida State, Wisconsin and West Virginia. More are sure to come open too. When these programs sign another team’s sitting coordinator, in many cases the coordinator will end up bringing some of their best players with them.
Florida State is set to bring in former UCF head coach Gus Malzahn as its new offensive coordinator. Don’t be surprised if some of his former players are suiting up for the Seminoles next season. Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle has been linked to a handful of offensive coordinator vacancies and there is surely interest in Cougars quarterback John Mateer.
FLORIDA'S RECRUITING MOMENTUM WILL CARRY OVER TO THE PORTAL
Since the Florida athletic director gave head coach Billy Napier a vote of confidence on Nov. 7 the Gators have added commitments from 10 high school prospects. What’s even more impressive is that all 10 of those players flipped their commitments from another program to Florida. Napier and his staff have found their groove again on the recruiting trail and they’re set to finish the 2025 high school recruiting cycle on a high note.
Expect Florida to continue to recruit at an impressive clip in this transfer portal cycle. The Gators need to supplement this high school recruiting class with immediate contributors at key positions on both sides of the ball. Lucky for them, DJ Lagway isn’t going anywhere. It looks like he is bound for stardom and he’ll draw the interest of big-time transfer prospects from every corner of the country.
MICHIGAN WILL GET IMMEDIATE BENEFIT FROM OHIO STATE WIN
Michigan’s win over Ohio State was completely unbelievable. Everything is going Michigan’s way right now, on and off the field. The Wolverines are trending for a number of highly ranked high school prospects since flipping five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood from LSU. Five-star Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng and Rivals250 prospects Jordan Young, Ty Haywood and Derek Meadows were all strongly considering the Wolverines before the win on Saturday.
Throw Indiana wide receiver transfer Donaven McCulley into that conversation now as well. The standout receiver is visiting Michigan on Sunday and the Wolverines are certainly trending for him as well. It shouldn’t come as a shock if any of these coveted prospects announce this commitment to the Wolverines in the coming days.
