HUNTINGTON — As is common in college football, the Marshall University football team looks vastly different one month into the calendar year than it did at season’s end.
Some players from the 2022 season had expired all remaining eligibility. Others forewent their remaining eligible years to enter the NFL Draft. Some transferred, but coach Charles Huff and company also added to their Thundering Herd in the early recruiting window, drawing talent out of the portal to replace what was lost.
There are two periods, or windows, in which college athletes can enter the transfer portal. The first is a 45-day period beginning Dec. 5 and the second is a 15-day window beginning May 1.
The portal is an NCAA database and compliance tool that manages and facilitates the process for athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions.
That first window ended on Jan. 18, meaning that no athlete who had not already entered can officially do so until May 1, providing a sense of pause for programs as they begin offseason programs.
“It’s (still) as much of a free for all, it’s just a window of free for all now,” Huff said. “What it does allow you to do, once we hit the 18th, we have a gauge of the team we’re going to have for the next two months, three months. You don’t have to worry about someone walking in and saying, ‘I’m going in the portal,’ in the middle of spring ball.”
Of more than a dozen players who elected to transfer, two impact players made that decision late in the 45-day window — wide receiver Corey Gammage and safety André Sam. Both chose schools where former Herd offensive and defensive coordinators are currently on staff.
Gammage, who led Marshall in receiving yards in each of the last three seasons, committed to Memphis Monday evening, reuniting him with former Herd offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, who just completed his first season with the Tigers.
Sam, who spent just one year at Marshall after transferring in from McNeese State, followed former defensive coordinator Lance Guidry to Tulane. Guidry was linked to that job one day before the winter transfer period closed, giving Sam a small window in which to make his decision.
But even with some losses to the portal, Huff and the Herd added talent through it as well, including defensive back J.J, Roberts, a Cabell Midland High School product who played previously at Wake Forest.
There was also KeSean Brown, a linebacker who came to Marshall from Appalachian State, and former Kentucky wide receiver DeMarcus Harris, who joined several others in committing to Marshall out of the portal.
“Our philosophy this year was to be a little bit heavier in the portal, knowing that in the 2024 season we’d be a little bit heavier in high school players,” Huff said.
The thinking there is that the sheer number of players in the portal might decrease next year since most athletes will have already used their extra year of eligibility given by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marshall has not yet announced its full signing class from the winter recruiting period, which will include those who have transferred to Marshall as well as early enrollees who will be on campus this spring.
Luke Creasy is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @LukeCreasy or reach him by phone at 304-526-2800.
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