August 25, 2023 • 32 mins
IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND PORTAL TALK, THIS IS YOUR PODCAST EPISODE!! Clint Brewster is an analyst for 247 Sports focusing on the transfer portal. Brewster and Coach Randy Taylor discuss his role in analyzing and rating players in the portal. When and how does he find out about a player transferring? And, how much does NIL come into play in signing transfers? There is a lot of great insight in this edition of Taylor Scouting.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Up on Gaine Presents Taylor Scouting. Coach Randy
Taylor is bringing his forty plus years of knowledge to you.
This is Taylor Scouting and now here's coach Randy Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
All right, welcome to LeVar Arrington's Up on Game Networks
Taylor Scouting Podcast. As you guys know, every week we
talk about college football, college football, recruiting, high school football,
everything related to football. And our goal, as you know,
is to educate and promote football to prospects, coaches, and fans.
(00:43):
I'm Randy Taylor. They call me Coach Taylor, and I'm
here with the Up on Game Network to get a
little talk about football and education, all that good stuff
I just talked about. Today, we're talking to Clint Brewster. Now.
Clint is a former quarterback at Minnesota and Tennessee Tech.
(01:05):
Originally a four star prospect from Mullen High School in Denver, Colorado.
Currently he's an analyst for twenty four to seven Sports
with a focus on the transfer portal. And I'm excited
about this discussion because we all need to learn more
about this transfer portal. He's the son of Tim Brewster,
(01:26):
a buddy of mine and a guy that played at
Illinois for US currently a Colorado assistant coach, and the
lovely Kathy Brewster is his mom. He's also got two brothers,
great young man, Eric and Nolan. Okay, so that is
the Clint Brewster background from my point of view. And
(01:49):
now let's get a little bit bring welcome Clint in
and have him give you a little bit of his background,
and then we're going to ask the question how long
have you been with twenty for sports, So so Clinton,
give us a little bit of what you want to uh,
how you want to describe yourself and what you do.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Well, that was a great introduction there. Thank you. I
I know we go uh way way back coach Taylor
and and uh, it's awesome too to to be on
this uh this this podcast is show with you. And
you know, it's been a pretty crazy journey for me,
you know since uh since high school and and moving
(02:31):
around so much with my dad being a coach and
you know as as uh as you mentioned before, and
playing at Minnesota and Tennessee Tech, and obviously I was
committed to University of Illinois before going to Minnesota, so
you know, it was it was just a unique situation
that I was in and you know, I was just
(02:52):
I was really really uh blessed to be around some
great coaches throughout my life and and and you know,
all the all the staff members and and like you
and and and everybody, and and it's it's it's been
a heck of a journey. I started working for twenty
four to seven Sports right after I graduated college, and
(03:15):
I've been with them for about nine ten years now,
and I I'm evaluating and ranking players, you know, with
a focus on the transfer portal, and the transfer portal
has just, you know, completely blown up, and it's changed
the dynamic of college football. It's it's just it's been incredible,
you know, along with inn Il's space and just just
(03:39):
the whole ecosystem now in college football is is just
completely changed and just so dynamic and fluid and and
everything's changing by the day and conference realignment and all that.
I mean, it's just it's it's a lot to keep
track of. But I'm you know, I'm I'm lucky to
be with a great company in twenty four to seven Sports,
(04:02):
and it's been it's been awesome. How did you.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Start your career and and what has sustained you with
twenty four to seven sports.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So I started as a beat reporter for for Michigan,
for for our Michigan page, and I started doing that
as a beat reporter, and I've I've done everything, you know,
all sorts of roles, from database to beat reporting, to
covering UH team coverage, recruiting coverage, you know, just about everything.
(04:37):
And you know, over like the past i would say
four or five years, I've really began to focus on
evaluating in rankings and I think that that's where my
passion is. And uh yeah, it's I I really love
just kind of digging in and and really evaluating these players.
(04:58):
You know, we rank every body and the transfer portal
we rank every single high school player that has a scholarship,
a Division one scholarship. So it's a lot of work,
but it's it's you know, it's it's been you know,
so much fun. And I'm I'm I'm glad I've I
did the other things too, and and and you know,
(05:19):
as far as UH team team sites and recruiting and
and all that, and I think it's really helped me
kind of get where I'm at now as far as
ranking and evaluating players.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
So you mentioned that your role about analyzing and rating players,
and you kind of touch briefly on uh, you know,
once they've got an offer and you you start to
find them or track them.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Is that?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Is that you know? I guess my question is when
and how do you find out about a player transferring?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Yeah, so everybody's in a database once once they enter
the transfer portal, every single player is in the database,
and we have access to that database. So once you know,
we're we are constantly checking that database, and once the
player is in there and it's confirmed, then we start
(06:17):
the evaluation process on a player. And uh, sometimes you
know that that even begins before players officially in the
transfer portal because you get so much leaked information on
Twitter and from coaches and from media and all that.
So you know, we we have a good beat on
(06:37):
you know, who's in the portal and who might enter
the transfer portal. You know, there's always rumors and whispers
if there's a notable player in there.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
What's your process when evaluating a transfer? Is it different
than than any other level that they play freshmen or
you know, yesh grade, whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah, that's a great question. I mean we we evaluate transfers,
We look at a player like we're an NFL GM
or an NFL scout, and we just try to get
as much data as we can, an information as we can,
both on and off the field, because especially with the
(07:21):
transfer portal portal, there's so much going on off the field,
you know that you know with these kids that that
you know, there might be a red flag there, there
might be green flags off the field, you know. You
just you just never really know. So we try to
dig in as much info as we can from coaches
(07:41):
and get input from you know, maybe somebody close to
the player, you know. We look at obviously, we look
at film, and we try to rank them based on
where we think they will ultimately be drafted in the
NFL because there's there's obviously there's there's thirty two five stars.
(08:03):
There's thirty two players that will be drafted in the
first round. So we and then and then a four
star is a player that we think will be a
drafted into the NFL. A three star might be a
guy that's a fringe NFL player, you know, and a
two star might be a mid level conference player, a
(08:23):
special teams guy, you know, maybe a depth player. So
that's kind of how we that's kind of how we
go about the process. But it can be you know,
there's there's just so much that goes into it. And I
think that we value really proven production at the college
level when we're looking at evaluating uh players. I think
(08:46):
the thing that is most important is proven production at
the college level. You know, I think that you'll see
most of those players that are ranked highly for us,
they've they've already done some great things at the college level,
or they were really highly rated recruit maybe a year
(09:07):
or two before that. But yeah, it's it's uh, there's
a lot to the process, for sure.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Do you use a player's background or high school career
or off field situations to put a rating on them
or are you strictly just looking at them as a player.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Yeah, we we get everything we can. So if a
kid says a true freshman and he enters the transfer portal,
we'll go back to his high school film and and
go back to any high school information that we have
because obviously he didn't play yet as a true freshman,
you know, he might have been second third on the
(09:52):
depth chart. We try to find out why he was,
what didn't play as a true freshman. You know, if
you're ranked as a five star or a four star
for us, we think that you'll make an immediate impact.
So if you didn't, we try to figure out, Okay,
why didn't he make an immediate impact? Was it because
he couldn't pick up the the playbook?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
You know?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Was it because he was a cancer in the locker room?
Did he have some red flags? Did he need development
in the weight room? You know, there's just so many
different things that it can be, and we really try
to figure that out. If a player is maybe a
freshman or sophomore and hasn't played yet, you know, we
don't have any any film to go off of, so
we'll go we'll obviously go back to their their high
(10:36):
school film and just any any sort of information we have.
We we we try to we try to dig in
and find you.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Know, I always talk about players should always know they're
always being evaluated, and they're being evaluated on everything. And
we've talked about you know X, which is you know,
Twitter and all these different instagram and so, like you said,
they're being evaluated on everything and whatever you can find
as an evaluator. So how many transfers are there to
(11:10):
eval each year.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yeah, so we've we ranked over five hundred players this cycle.
There was over three thousand in the portal. There was
there was maybe two thousand last last cycle, and it's
just it's gotten to be more and more. But you know,
as far as ranking players, we we try to rank
(11:35):
everybody from the top down that that has a scholarship
offer or that is a notable player, you know, a
player that we that we think will move on to
another Power five or Division one team. So yeah, we
we We did not rank all three thousand, that's for sure,
(11:56):
but but yeah, I was I think it was about
five hundred this year and it was quite a bit.
You know, to be interesting to see how many there
are in the next couple of cycles.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
How many guys do you have working with you evaluating
the transfers.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
There's a team of us. There's probably about four four
to six guys that are that are working with the
Transfer Portal, and we'll have a reporter that reports more
on their recruiting process throughout the transfer portal and where
they might end up. And then we'll have some guys
that are you know, really evaluating and ranking the transfer
(12:40):
portal players.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
You mentioned a number of three thousand this year in
five hundred that you evaluate. Is that number going to
go up or do you think we're at a stabilization period.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
You know, it'll be interesting to see what happens with that.
That's a great question that you know, nobody really knows because.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
It's gonna be real interesting because there's just there's so
many players that are left out, you know, that don't
have a home in the transfer portal that nobody wanted.
So do they either go back to the college that
they work because they're able to go back to Once
you enter the transfer portal, you're able to go back
(13:26):
to the college that you just entered from. If nobody
wants you, you can ask your way back. That might
be a little awkward with the team. Some coaches say
you can't come back, but that I mean, that's the question.
There's so many guys who you know, maybe they'll go
to to junior college, maybe they'll drop down to Division
(13:47):
two level Division three. But there's tons of players, like
I said that we ranked about five hundred that are
going you know, Division one or or you know, some
might be on one Double A and or or to
a mid level conference. But there's so many there's so
many players that you know, we they're in. They got
(14:08):
to figure it out. And I think that that that
there's a message there that sends to the players, you know,
should I go into the transfer portal? So all these players,
they better be getting some good information from, you know,
a coach or somebody close to them saying, hey, you
got to make a calculated decision here should if you
(14:31):
should enter the transfer portal because you might not be
able to go somewhere.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
But and the the so the twenty five hundred guys
are kind of out there and they're not division ie, FBS,
power five, whatever the term might be. So they the
grass wasn't greener when they got in the portal. Is
that safe to say? So? Twenty five hundred out of
(14:56):
three thousand, uh, And maybe the they knew it ahead
of time, you know how that goes. But a lot
of them probably think they're better than they are and
they get stuck in there.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah, exactly. And I mean I just hope that these kids,
you know, realize and kind of study history and see,
you know, what's going on. It might be better to
stick it out at their current program, so you know,
we'll see what happens. You know, there's there's also talk
that you know, there's whispers that that the transfer portal
(15:31):
windows because you can only transfer during a certain amount
of time. You can only transfer. There's about this year,
there was about a month in December January that that
you can transfer, and then there was fourteen days I
believe it was in at the end of April that
where players can actually enter the transfer portal, and the
(15:52):
NCAA might make that window a lot smaller so there's
not as many kids in the transfer portal. And then
you also have to talk about you know, in I
L and in some of these these these top players
in the in the transfer portal. With with in I L,
there's gonna they're gonna be so expensive in the transfer portal.
(16:14):
Proven production from a transfer portal player is gonna cost
teams a lot of money. So teams might not have
that money to spend on a transfer portal player, so
they might go to JUCO, they might go to the
high school ranks. So people, some people think that it
will start to even out in you know, these teams
like like USC, like old myths that are taking so
(16:37):
many transfers they might not be able to uh in
the future because of the price for for transfer portal players,
which what you know is what I think is interesting
because you know, a lot of these schools have a
ton of money, but you know, who knows, really there's
there's no open records on how much these players are
making in in I L. So it'll be interesting.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Is it safe to say that the five hundred that
that you guys rated were the guys that are probably
going to get the big nil money and that the
others are probably not going to be on that list?
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yeah, I think so. I think we we've done a
great job with our team identifying the top players. You know,
obviously there's going to be those guys that go to
a lower tier U Division one, Double A A Division
two and and they they have you know, a breakout
season and whatnot. There's definitely going to be those players.
(17:35):
You know, It's impossible, I would say, to find every
single one. It's just like those high school players that
end up going to a small college and and you know,
really really crushing it there and then end up getting drafted.
You know, you just there's always going to be those
guys to fall through the cracks. But I think I
think with those the players that we've ranked, we've identified,
(17:57):
you know that the top ones in our eyes, and yeah,
so's so.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
So.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Colorado is a program you know, because of your dad
and you're an old Colorado guy. Anyway, they've had a
significant number of transfers with UH with Dion and you know,
and so that's one of the schools we hear about.
And I think you mentioned Old Miss. What are other
(18:25):
schools that are heavily involved in the transfer portal.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Yeah, there's a there's a lot of them, you know,
There's there's UH, usc Ole Miss. Old Miss took twenty
three commitments from the from the transfer portal. Auburn took
twenty commits. Florida State has always taken quite a few
with Mike Norvel. Miami has has taken quite a few. Oklahoma.
(18:55):
I think the trend that you see is that, you know,
the schools that take the most in the transfer portal
are the ones with new head coaches that want to
flip the roster, kind of like what Dion did. It's
obviously he did it to an extreme level, taking fifty
(19:17):
commits in the transfer portal, but you'll see a lot
of these these uh, these teams that have new coaches
take a lot of players in the transfer portal. And
you'll see teams who are just kind of trying to
get over the hump, and maybe they're in trouble, maybe
they're they're coaches on the hot seat and they really
(19:39):
need to win some games, and they're trying to get
some proven production in the transfer portal. But I think
those are the two things you'll see a lot with
the teams that are taking the most in the transfer portal.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Good we assume that the top programs that are gonna
have of success, Ah, they're the ones with the most
transfers or the better transfers. I mean, I guess I'm
trying to figure out who are the top programs to
keep an eye on based on their transfers. That's a
(20:15):
good way to ask it, I guess.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Yeah. Well, it's interesting because there's there's programs like, you know,
like Clemson, like Georgia. You know, I always been one
that that are kind of against the transfer portal and
don't take many, so you know, that's that's interesting approach
to me. But obviously teams like Georgia in Alabama, they
(20:44):
don't need to take a lot of players in the
transfer portal because they want to develop their high school
players and develop the players that they that they already have,
so they don't really need to rely on it. But
you know, I think that there's other teams who think
that they can get better players in the transfer portal
(21:05):
than they can recruiting really use the portal, so it'll
be interesting to see how that turns out. But I
think some programs that have really thrived in the portal
that took a large number was like Florida State, you know,
obviously Mike Norvell and Florida State, like I mentioned before,
(21:27):
they took a ton of players and they have eight
this cycle from the transfer portal in they eight four
stars rather But you know, Miami took a lot and
they've got to win some games, so it'll be interesting
to see if they can. LSU took a lot last
(21:48):
year and they were able to have some success in
the transfer portal. Obviously Old miss has taken quite a few.
We'll see, We'll see how that turns out. You know,
Auburn they took a ton. I think that Kentucky really
did a good job in the transfer portal. And they've
(22:08):
had success with it. Louisville was a school that I
think you have to highlight. They took twenty five commits
in the transfer portal and they've done some really good
things and had some good production there. Michigan has has
done a great job. TCU. They were both in the
in the playoffs and they've done great. So it's it's
(22:32):
interesting to see the dynamic like you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
So, the NCAA recently changed the transfer rule to avoid
having players transfer every year, and so it's you could
transfer once without having to sit and play immediately if
I read it right, the next time of player transfers,
they have to appeal for immediate eligibility or losing your
(22:59):
playing Have you seen that? Is it hard to appeal?
Do the do the appeals work or have they made
that pretty easy?
Speaker 3 (23:09):
So the appeals, it's it's a it's a weird process
because if you can actually say, if you've transferred twice,
you can actually say that you've had some mental instability
or mental issues and that will grant you a immediate
(23:30):
eligibility to transfer. It's it's weird because that's one of
the only things that you can do now if you
are a double transfer. To get immediate eligibility, you have
to prove that you've had some sort of uh mental
issue in the NCAA, which is which is is kind
(23:51):
of odd. I don't know if that makes a lot
of sense, But there's you know, like we've seen, they've
really tried to crack down on the double transfers. Like
tes Walker that's going to u n C who transferred
from Kent State, he was also at another college before that.
Darryl Jackson at Miami he was he was another one
(24:14):
who transferred twice and didn't get immediate eligibility. But they're
all trying to appeal now, and it's just it's kind
of silly that right now they're just saying that they're
ineligible and they also went through spring practice already, which
I don't you know, I don't understand that, but but yeah,
(24:34):
it's it's a process that they're all trying to there's
a lot of gray areas and they're trying to figure
out right now, and a lot of it doesn't make sense,
but you know, that's just I guess it's how that's
how it is with the NCAA right now.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, that that's the answer to almost everything. That's how
it is with the NCAA A the uh, now, will
we see any more seven year kids? And maybe the
COVID kind of is is slowing down some of that.
Are we going to see any more players at a
school for seven years?
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I think they'll still end up being some you know,
with the with the COVID year and uh, you know,
with with medical red shirts and all that, we might
not see as many. But but yeah, it's it's crazy
to see some kids, you know, a class of twenty
eighteen or twenty seventeen, however many, however long ago that
(25:32):
is to to to play college football right now, it's
it's pretty crazy. But I think that we'll we'll continue
to see some more for sure.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
You mentioned earlier about the windows, the periods to enter
the portal. Do you think that's helped. Is that working
the way they wanted it to?
Speaker 3 (25:57):
You know, it's tough to say right now, because there's
just there's so many players in the portal, and I
think it's they've tried to make it easier on personnel
and support staff and coaches because these coaches are trying
to play a a game in December and get ready
(26:17):
for their bowl game and also recruit high school players
while also navigating the transfer portal. So it's like, you know, uh,
we we gotta we gotta have we got to have
a break for these guys at some point, and and
you know, it just it doesn't seem very fair right
now for the coaches and the support staff and you know,
(26:39):
the recruit staff. So it's it's, uh, it's tough. And
I think that these windows need to be at different times,
and they need to be smaller so there's not quite
that flood of players and it's easier to kind of
navigate for uh uh, for support staff and all that.
So it's it's tough to say though right now. I think,
(27:02):
you know, once we look back on in a couple
of years, we'll have some more clarity. But there's just,
like I said, there's so much gray area right now
because everything's so unprecedented.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah, there's like forty five days in the fall transfer window.
It just seems like that's a free for all. I
get the timing of the football season and everything, but
it just seems like that's that's too big of a
period of time to lit kids. You know, shoot, they're
(27:36):
changing schools, in the middle of a semester and I
mean everything else. You know, quarter schools have different problems,
so it's really kind of a crazy thing. So you
see some changes maybe coming there with the window. What
other changes do you think are could happen with the
portal and with ANIL.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
You know, I don't know, like I like I was
touching on earlier. You know, you you think about the
price for N I L players compared to high school
and how that is going to even out because everybody
wants you know, those that proven production, and you know, I,
(28:21):
I just I really want to know. This is kind
of getting off off the question that you asked, but
I really want to know. You know, if you're if
you're a college program and you sign you know, all
these players, uh right before the season, like like a
school like Colorado did, will you have the cohesiveness? Will
(28:43):
you will? You will? Will everybody be able to trust
each other? You know? Will everybody? Will everybody have that
connection that you want on the football field, and Colorado
will be a great science experiment for everybody, for all
these coaches to see. Okay, should we all take you know,
(29:05):
maybe fifty transfers every year or should we should we
kind of dummy that that down and take a lot
less and try to develop high school players more. I
just think it'll be really interesting now to see the numbers,
you know, will how many transfers will a team take?
(29:26):
You know, And I think with Colorado, it's gonna be
a great science experiment for everybody to all these schools
to see, you know, should we take fifty guys? Because
you know, coaches can now cut players when they get
to a certain college. So it's like, you know, I'm
just interested to see what it's gonna look like in
(29:49):
a couple of years. As far as these these transfer
numbers where we see these big classes now.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
You know, it used to be that we would care
about hurting of players parents are hurting their feelings or
looking bad to other schools, schools using the transfers and
the players leaving as a recruiting tool against you. I
think those kind of things of all now it's not
(30:19):
that big a deal. You just everyone's just going every
different direction, and nobody is looking like the bad guy
for letting go of the guy that was on a team.
And because you can get a better guy through the portal,
he's now boom gone. Right, and so there's some stuff
(30:40):
that kind of makes me feel queasy about it, but
I guess that's the time we're in, the days we're.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
In, Yeah, no doubt. I mean, who knows what's going
to be next, you know, I just you know, it's
an exciting time though right now I don't think it's
there's more more excitement in college football.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
And right now, you know, I'm gonna keep you, Clint.
I'm not. I'm not trading you or letting you go. Brother,
You're gonna You're gonna stay in my rolodex. Man, Hey,
appreciate you doing this for us. This was great. We
learned a lot from you. And I'm gonna just wrap
this up. But thanks for coming, Clint, and we'll keep
(31:22):
in touch better and keep an eye on you.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Absolutely. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Okay, buddy, so Hey, thanks guys for coming. Thanks for
following us on the upboonb Game Network, the Taylor Scouting Podcast.
You know you can follow us on X Someday we
won't need to say Twitter, but the X are our
Taylor FB scout Rate and review us and go to
(31:52):
Upbon Game Network, up on Game Presents on YouTube for
Taylor scouting Podcast, and then you can go to iHeartRadio
or Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Really
appreciate it again, rate and review us, and subscribe. Thanks
for joining us on the Upon Game Network Tailor Scouting Podcast.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Take care
Welcome to Up on Gaine Presents Taylor Scouting. Coach Randy
Taylor is bringing his forty plus years of knowledge to you.
This is Taylor Scouting and now here's coach Randy Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
All right, welcome to LeVar Arrington's Up on Game Networks
Taylor Scouting Podcast. As you guys know, every week we
talk about college football, college football, recruiting, high school football,
everything related to football. And our goal, as you know,
is to educate and promote football to prospects, coaches, and fans.
(00:43):
I'm Randy Taylor. They call me Coach Taylor, and I'm
here with the Up on Game Network to get a
little talk about football and education, all that good stuff
I just talked about. Today, we're talking to Clint Brewster. Now.
Clint is a former quarterback at Minnesota and Tennessee Tech.
(01:05):
Originally a four star prospect from Mullen High School in Denver, Colorado.
Currently he's an analyst for twenty four to seven Sports
with a focus on the transfer portal. And I'm excited
about this discussion because we all need to learn more
about this transfer portal. He's the son of Tim Brewster,
(01:26):
a buddy of mine and a guy that played at
Illinois for US currently a Colorado assistant coach, and the
lovely Kathy Brewster is his mom. He's also got two brothers,
great young man, Eric and Nolan. Okay, so that is
the Clint Brewster background from my point of view. And
(01:49):
now let's get a little bit bring welcome Clint in
and have him give you a little bit of his background,
and then we're going to ask the question how long
have you been with twenty for sports, So so Clinton,
give us a little bit of what you want to uh,
how you want to describe yourself and what you do.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Well, that was a great introduction there. Thank you. I
I know we go uh way way back coach Taylor
and and uh, it's awesome too to to be on
this uh this this podcast is show with you. And
you know, it's been a pretty crazy journey for me,
you know since uh since high school and and moving
(02:31):
around so much with my dad being a coach and
you know as as uh as you mentioned before, and
playing at Minnesota and Tennessee Tech, and obviously I was
committed to University of Illinois before going to Minnesota, so
you know, it was it was just a unique situation
that I was in and you know, I was just
(02:52):
I was really really uh blessed to be around some
great coaches throughout my life and and and you know,
all the all the staff members and and like you
and and and everybody, and and it's it's it's been
a heck of a journey. I started working for twenty
four to seven Sports right after I graduated college, and
(03:15):
I've been with them for about nine ten years now,
and I I'm evaluating and ranking players, you know, with
a focus on the transfer portal, and the transfer portal
has just, you know, completely blown up, and it's changed
the dynamic of college football. It's it's just it's been incredible,
you know, along with inn Il's space and just just
(03:39):
the whole ecosystem now in college football is is just
completely changed and just so dynamic and fluid and and
everything's changing by the day and conference realignment and all that.
I mean, it's just it's it's a lot to keep
track of. But I'm you know, I'm I'm lucky to
be with a great company in twenty four to seven Sports,
(04:02):
and it's been it's been awesome. How did you.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Start your career and and what has sustained you with
twenty four to seven sports.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So I started as a beat reporter for for Michigan,
for for our Michigan page, and I started doing that
as a beat reporter, and I've I've done everything, you know,
all sorts of roles, from database to beat reporting, to
covering UH team coverage, recruiting coverage, you know, just about everything.
(04:37):
And you know, over like the past i would say
four or five years, I've really began to focus on
evaluating in rankings and I think that that's where my
passion is. And uh yeah, it's I I really love
just kind of digging in and and really evaluating these players.
(04:58):
You know, we rank every body and the transfer portal
we rank every single high school player that has a scholarship,
a Division one scholarship. So it's a lot of work,
but it's it's you know, it's it's been you know,
so much fun. And I'm I'm I'm glad I've I
did the other things too, and and and you know,
(05:19):
as far as UH team team sites and recruiting and
and all that, and I think it's really helped me
kind of get where I'm at now as far as
ranking and evaluating players.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
So you mentioned that your role about analyzing and rating players,
and you kind of touch briefly on uh, you know,
once they've got an offer and you you start to
find them or track them.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Is that?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Is that you know? I guess my question is when
and how do you find out about a player transferring?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Yeah, so everybody's in a database once once they enter
the transfer portal, every single player is in the database,
and we have access to that database. So once you know,
we're we are constantly checking that database, and once the
player is in there and it's confirmed, then we start
(06:17):
the evaluation process on a player. And uh, sometimes you
know that that even begins before players officially in the
transfer portal because you get so much leaked information on
Twitter and from coaches and from media and all that.
So you know, we we have a good beat on
(06:37):
you know, who's in the portal and who might enter
the transfer portal. You know, there's always rumors and whispers
if there's a notable player in there.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
What's your process when evaluating a transfer? Is it different
than than any other level that they play freshmen or
you know, yesh grade, whatever it is.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah, that's a great question. I mean we we evaluate transfers,
We look at a player like we're an NFL GM
or an NFL scout, and we just try to get
as much data as we can, an information as we can,
both on and off the field, because especially with the
(07:21):
transfer portal portal, there's so much going on off the field,
you know that you know with these kids that that
you know, there might be a red flag there, there
might be green flags off the field, you know. You
just you just never really know. So we try to
dig in as much info as we can from coaches
(07:41):
and get input from you know, maybe somebody close to
the player, you know. We look at obviously, we look
at film, and we try to rank them based on
where we think they will ultimately be drafted in the
NFL because there's there's obviously there's there's thirty two five stars.
(08:03):
There's thirty two players that will be drafted in the
first round. So we and then and then a four
star is a player that we think will be a
drafted into the NFL. A three star might be a
guy that's a fringe NFL player, you know, and a
two star might be a mid level conference player, a
(08:23):
special teams guy, you know, maybe a depth player. So
that's kind of how we that's kind of how we
go about the process. But it can be you know,
there's there's just so much that goes into it. And I
think that we value really proven production at the college
level when we're looking at evaluating uh players. I think
(08:46):
the thing that is most important is proven production at
the college level. You know, I think that you'll see
most of those players that are ranked highly for us,
they've they've already done some great things at the college level,
or they were really highly rated recruit maybe a year
(09:07):
or two before that. But yeah, it's it's uh, there's
a lot to the process, for sure.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Do you use a player's background or high school career
or off field situations to put a rating on them
or are you strictly just looking at them as a player.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Yeah, we we get everything we can. So if a
kid says a true freshman and he enters the transfer portal,
we'll go back to his high school film and and
go back to any high school information that we have
because obviously he didn't play yet as a true freshman,
you know, he might have been second third on the
(09:52):
depth chart. We try to find out why he was,
what didn't play as a true freshman. You know, if
you're ranked as a five star or a four star
for us, we think that you'll make an immediate impact.
So if you didn't, we try to figure out, Okay,
why didn't he make an immediate impact? Was it because
he couldn't pick up the the playbook?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
You know?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Was it because he was a cancer in the locker room?
Did he have some red flags? Did he need development
in the weight room? You know, there's just so many
different things that it can be, and we really try
to figure that out. If a player is maybe a
freshman or sophomore and hasn't played yet, you know, we
don't have any any film to go off of, so
we'll go we'll obviously go back to their their high
(10:36):
school film and just any any sort of information we have.
We we we try to we try to dig in
and find you.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Know, I always talk about players should always know they're
always being evaluated, and they're being evaluated on everything. And
we've talked about you know X, which is you know,
Twitter and all these different instagram and so, like you said,
they're being evaluated on everything and whatever you can find
as an evaluator. So how many transfers are there to
(11:10):
eval each year.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yeah, so we've we ranked over five hundred players this cycle.
There was over three thousand in the portal. There was
there was maybe two thousand last last cycle, and it's
just it's gotten to be more and more. But you know,
as far as ranking players, we we try to rank
(11:35):
everybody from the top down that that has a scholarship
offer or that is a notable player, you know, a
player that we that we think will move on to
another Power five or Division one team. So yeah, we
we We did not rank all three thousand, that's for sure,
(11:56):
but but yeah, I was I think it was about
five hundred this year and it was quite a bit.
You know, to be interesting to see how many there
are in the next couple of cycles.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
How many guys do you have working with you evaluating
the transfers.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
There's a team of us. There's probably about four four
to six guys that are that are working with the
Transfer Portal, and we'll have a reporter that reports more
on their recruiting process throughout the transfer portal and where
they might end up. And then we'll have some guys
that are you know, really evaluating and ranking the transfer
(12:40):
portal players.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
You mentioned a number of three thousand this year in
five hundred that you evaluate. Is that number going to
go up or do you think we're at a stabilization period.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
You know, it'll be interesting to see what happens with that.
That's a great question that you know, nobody really knows because.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
It's gonna be real interesting because there's just there's so
many players that are left out, you know, that don't
have a home in the transfer portal that nobody wanted.
So do they either go back to the college that
they work because they're able to go back to Once
you enter the transfer portal, you're able to go back
(13:26):
to the college that you just entered from. If nobody
wants you, you can ask your way back. That might
be a little awkward with the team. Some coaches say
you can't come back, but that I mean, that's the question.
There's so many guys who you know, maybe they'll go
to to junior college, maybe they'll drop down to Division
(13:47):
two level Division three. But there's tons of players, like
I said that we ranked about five hundred that are
going you know, Division one or or you know, some
might be on one Double A and or or to
a mid level conference. But there's so many there's so
many players that you know, we they're in. They got
(14:08):
to figure it out. And I think that that that
there's a message there that sends to the players, you know,
should I go into the transfer portal? So all these players,
they better be getting some good information from, you know,
a coach or somebody close to them saying, hey, you
got to make a calculated decision here should if you
(14:31):
should enter the transfer portal because you might not be
able to go somewhere.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
But and the the so the twenty five hundred guys
are kind of out there and they're not division ie, FBS,
power five, whatever the term might be. So they the
grass wasn't greener when they got in the portal. Is
that safe to say? So? Twenty five hundred out of
(14:56):
three thousand, uh, And maybe the they knew it ahead
of time, you know how that goes. But a lot
of them probably think they're better than they are and
they get stuck in there.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah, exactly. And I mean I just hope that these kids,
you know, realize and kind of study history and see,
you know, what's going on. It might be better to
stick it out at their current program, so you know,
we'll see what happens. You know, there's there's also talk
that you know, there's whispers that that the transfer portal
(15:31):
windows because you can only transfer during a certain amount
of time. You can only transfer. There's about this year,
there was about a month in December January that that
you can transfer, and then there was fourteen days I
believe it was in at the end of April that
where players can actually enter the transfer portal, and the
(15:52):
NCAA might make that window a lot smaller so there's
not as many kids in the transfer portal. And then
you also have to talk about you know, in I
L and in some of these these these top players
in the in the transfer portal. With with in I L,
there's gonna they're gonna be so expensive in the transfer portal.
(16:14):
Proven production from a transfer portal player is gonna cost
teams a lot of money. So teams might not have
that money to spend on a transfer portal player, so
they might go to JUCO, they might go to the
high school ranks. So people, some people think that it
will start to even out in you know, these teams
like like USC, like old myths that are taking so
(16:37):
many transfers they might not be able to uh in
the future because of the price for for transfer portal players,
which what you know is what I think is interesting
because you know, a lot of these schools have a
ton of money, but you know, who knows, really there's
there's no open records on how much these players are
making in in I L. So it'll be interesting.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Is it safe to say that the five hundred that
that you guys rated were the guys that are probably
going to get the big nil money and that the
others are probably not going to be on that list?
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yeah, I think so. I think we we've done a
great job with our team identifying the top players. You know,
obviously there's going to be those guys that go to
a lower tier U Division one, Double A A Division
two and and they they have you know, a breakout
season and whatnot. There's definitely going to be those players.
(17:35):
You know, It's impossible, I would say, to find every
single one. It's just like those high school players that
end up going to a small college and and you know,
really really crushing it there and then end up getting drafted.
You know, you just there's always going to be those
guys to fall through the cracks. But I think I
think with those the players that we've ranked, we've identified,
(17:57):
you know that the top ones in our eyes, and yeah,
so's so.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
So.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Colorado is a program you know, because of your dad
and you're an old Colorado guy. Anyway, they've had a
significant number of transfers with UH with Dion and you know,
and so that's one of the schools we hear about.
And I think you mentioned Old Miss. What are other
(18:25):
schools that are heavily involved in the transfer portal.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Yeah, there's a there's a lot of them, you know,
There's there's UH, usc Ole Miss. Old Miss took twenty
three commitments from the from the transfer portal. Auburn took
twenty commits. Florida State has always taken quite a few
with Mike Norvel. Miami has has taken quite a few. Oklahoma.
(18:55):
I think the trend that you see is that, you know,
the schools that take the most in the transfer portal
are the ones with new head coaches that want to
flip the roster, kind of like what Dion did. It's
obviously he did it to an extreme level, taking fifty
(19:17):
commits in the transfer portal, but you'll see a lot
of these these uh, these teams that have new coaches
take a lot of players in the transfer portal. And
you'll see teams who are just kind of trying to
get over the hump, and maybe they're in trouble, maybe
they're they're coaches on the hot seat and they really
(19:39):
need to win some games, and they're trying to get
some proven production in the transfer portal. But I think
those are the two things you'll see a lot with
the teams that are taking the most in the transfer portal.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Good we assume that the top programs that are gonna
have of success, Ah, they're the ones with the most
transfers or the better transfers. I mean, I guess I'm
trying to figure out who are the top programs to
keep an eye on based on their transfers. That's a
(20:15):
good way to ask it, I guess.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Yeah. Well, it's interesting because there's there's programs like, you know,
like Clemson, like Georgia. You know, I always been one
that that are kind of against the transfer portal and
don't take many, so you know, that's that's interesting approach
to me. But obviously teams like Georgia in Alabama, they
(20:44):
don't need to take a lot of players in the
transfer portal because they want to develop their high school
players and develop the players that they that they already have,
so they don't really need to rely on it. But
you know, I think that there's other teams who think
that they can get better players in the transfer portal
(21:05):
than they can recruiting really use the portal, so it'll
be interesting to see how that turns out. But I
think some programs that have really thrived in the portal
that took a large number was like Florida State, you know,
obviously Mike Norvell and Florida State, like I mentioned before,
(21:27):
they took a ton of players and they have eight
this cycle from the transfer portal in they eight four
stars rather But you know, Miami took a lot and
they've got to win some games, so it'll be interesting
to see if they can. LSU took a lot last
(21:48):
year and they were able to have some success in
the transfer portal. Obviously Old miss has taken quite a few.
We'll see, We'll see how that turns out. You know,
Auburn they took a ton. I think that Kentucky really
did a good job in the transfer portal. And they've
(22:08):
had success with it. Louisville was a school that I
think you have to highlight. They took twenty five commits
in the transfer portal and they've done some really good
things and had some good production there. Michigan has has
done a great job. TCU. They were both in the
in the playoffs and they've done great. So it's it's
(22:32):
interesting to see the dynamic like you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
So, the NCAA recently changed the transfer rule to avoid
having players transfer every year, and so it's you could
transfer once without having to sit and play immediately if
I read it right, the next time of player transfers,
they have to appeal for immediate eligibility or losing your
(22:59):
playing Have you seen that? Is it hard to appeal?
Do the do the appeals work or have they made
that pretty easy?
Speaker 3 (23:09):
So the appeals, it's it's a it's a weird process
because if you can actually say, if you've transferred twice,
you can actually say that you've had some mental instability
or mental issues and that will grant you a immediate
(23:30):
eligibility to transfer. It's it's weird because that's one of
the only things that you can do now if you
are a double transfer. To get immediate eligibility, you have
to prove that you've had some sort of uh mental
issue in the NCAA, which is which is is kind
(23:51):
of odd. I don't know if that makes a lot
of sense, But there's you know, like we've seen, they've
really tried to crack down on the double transfers. Like
tes Walker that's going to u n C who transferred
from Kent State, he was also at another college before that.
Darryl Jackson at Miami he was he was another one
(24:14):
who transferred twice and didn't get immediate eligibility. But they're
all trying to appeal now, and it's just it's kind
of silly that right now they're just saying that they're
ineligible and they also went through spring practice already, which
I don't you know, I don't understand that, but but yeah,
(24:34):
it's it's a process that they're all trying to there's
a lot of gray areas and they're trying to figure
out right now, and a lot of it doesn't make sense,
but you know, that's just I guess it's how that's
how it is with the NCAA right now.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, that that's the answer to almost everything. That's how
it is with the NCAA A the uh, now, will
we see any more seven year kids? And maybe the
COVID kind of is is slowing down some of that.
Are we going to see any more players at a
school for seven years?
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I think they'll still end up being some you know,
with the with the COVID year and uh, you know,
with with medical red shirts and all that, we might
not see as many. But but yeah, it's it's crazy
to see some kids, you know, a class of twenty
eighteen or twenty seventeen, however many, however long ago that
(25:32):
is to to to play college football right now, it's
it's pretty crazy. But I think that we'll we'll continue
to see some more for sure.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
You mentioned earlier about the windows, the periods to enter
the portal. Do you think that's helped. Is that working
the way they wanted it to?
Speaker 3 (25:57):
You know, it's tough to say right now, because there's
just there's so many players in the portal, and I
think it's they've tried to make it easier on personnel
and support staff and coaches because these coaches are trying
to play a a game in December and get ready
(26:17):
for their bowl game and also recruit high school players
while also navigating the transfer portal. So it's like, you know, uh,
we we gotta we gotta have we got to have
a break for these guys at some point, and and
you know, it just it doesn't seem very fair right
now for the coaches and the support staff and you know,
(26:39):
the recruit staff. So it's it's, uh, it's tough. And
I think that these windows need to be at different times,
and they need to be smaller so there's not quite
that flood of players and it's easier to kind of
navigate for uh uh, for support staff and all that.
So it's it's tough to say though right now. I think,
(27:02):
you know, once we look back on in a couple
of years, we'll have some more clarity. But there's just,
like I said, there's so much gray area right now
because everything's so unprecedented.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah, there's like forty five days in the fall transfer window.
It just seems like that's a free for all. I
get the timing of the football season and everything, but
it just seems like that's that's too big of a
period of time to lit kids. You know, shoot, they're
(27:36):
changing schools, in the middle of a semester and I
mean everything else. You know, quarter schools have different problems,
so it's really kind of a crazy thing. So you
see some changes maybe coming there with the window. What
other changes do you think are could happen with the
portal and with ANIL.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
You know, I don't know, like I like I was
touching on earlier. You know, you you think about the
price for N I L players compared to high school
and how that is going to even out because everybody
wants you know, those that proven production, and you know, I,
(28:21):
I just I really want to know. This is kind
of getting off off the question that you asked, but
I really want to know. You know, if you're if
you're a college program and you sign you know, all
these players, uh right before the season, like like a
school like Colorado did, will you have the cohesiveness? Will
(28:43):
you will? You will? Will everybody be able to trust
each other? You know? Will everybody? Will everybody have that
connection that you want on the football field, and Colorado
will be a great science experiment for everybody, for all
these coaches to see. Okay, should we all take you know,
(29:05):
maybe fifty transfers every year or should we should we
kind of dummy that that down and take a lot
less and try to develop high school players more. I
just think it'll be really interesting now to see the numbers,
you know, will how many transfers will a team take?
(29:26):
You know, And I think with Colorado, it's gonna be
a great science experiment for everybody to all these schools
to see, you know, should we take fifty guys? Because
you know, coaches can now cut players when they get
to a certain college. So it's like, you know, I'm
just interested to see what it's gonna look like in
(29:49):
a couple of years. As far as these these transfer
numbers where we see these big classes now.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
You know, it used to be that we would care
about hurting of players parents are hurting their feelings or
looking bad to other schools, schools using the transfers and
the players leaving as a recruiting tool against you. I
think those kind of things of all now it's not
(30:19):
that big a deal. You just everyone's just going every
different direction, and nobody is looking like the bad guy
for letting go of the guy that was on a team.
And because you can get a better guy through the portal,
he's now boom gone. Right, and so there's some stuff
(30:40):
that kind of makes me feel queasy about it, but
I guess that's the time we're in, the days we're.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
In, Yeah, no doubt. I mean, who knows what's going
to be next, you know, I just you know, it's
an exciting time though right now I don't think it's
there's more more excitement in college football.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
And right now, you know, I'm gonna keep you, Clint.
I'm not. I'm not trading you or letting you go. Brother,
You're gonna You're gonna stay in my rolodex. Man, Hey,
appreciate you doing this for us. This was great. We
learned a lot from you. And I'm gonna just wrap
this up. But thanks for coming, Clint, and we'll keep
(31:22):
in touch better and keep an eye on you.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Absolutely. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Okay, buddy, so Hey, thanks guys for coming. Thanks for
following us on the upboonb Game Network, the Taylor Scouting Podcast.
You know you can follow us on X Someday we
won't need to say Twitter, but the X are our
Taylor FB scout Rate and review us and go to
(31:52):
Upbon Game Network, up on Game Presents on YouTube for
Taylor scouting Podcast, and then you can go to iHeartRadio
or Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Really
appreciate it again, rate and review us, and subscribe. Thanks
for joining us on the Upon Game Network Tailor Scouting Podcast.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Take care
Host
LaVar Arrington
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