Watching several big college football games yesterday, I tried to focus on the number of transfers playing for Power 5 teams. Sometimes these transfers come from other big programs but they also now come from small schools were players have proven themselves. And then when they do well, they get the call-up to the 10-20 teams that might challenge for a national championship. And then they might get the call-up to the NFL.

To some degree, this has always been true in college football. But with the ease of transfers and NIL money, it seems like a new era is underway. The player who might never get recruited at a top team at the end of high school could be a hot commodity after several successful in the lower minor leagues. This might be especially true of quarterbacks; instead of going through years of developing someone, big programs can pluck a veteran transfer who can step right in.

How much more like the minor leagues can college football get? Will this help prompt separating the football from the education side? The number of transfers from smaller programs to bigger ones might play a role.