Transfer portal window to shrink to 10 days in 2027

College football’s transfer portal window will be reduced from 15 days to 10 beginning Jan. 4, 2027.

The shorter window gives staffs five fewer days to keep current players from leaving, evaluate available transfers and close roster holes. The reporting does not specify the portal’s exact dates, but the change will compress an already crowded stretch of roster management and recruiting.

Teams also will be limited to 21 preseason practices, down from 25. Four fewer fall-camp practices leaves less runway for staffs installing changes, sorting position battles and getting new portal additions ready before the opener.

The out-of-season calendar will move away from its previous spring/summer model. Teams will be permitted two out-of-season practice periods, though the effective date and scheduling details for those practice changes were not provided.

Josh Brooks, the FBS Oversight Committee vice chair, said the calendar subcommittee built the changes from recommendations by the American Football Coaches Association. “The work of the calendar subcommittee in building off the American Football Coaches Association's recommendations has been critical in establishing clarity with the college football calendar.”

The immediate practical change is the portal clock: programs will have 10 days, rather than 15, to make their retention and acquisition decisions once the new rule begins in 2027.