Goodbye, spring Transfer Portal window - hello, one winter window to be opened at a to be determined date.
Alabama fans may have missed that news on Wednesday. That's because the spring Transfer Portal window had been of little consequence for the Crimson Tide under Kalen DeBoer. In fact, DeBoer had all but eliminated it before the NCAA even had the chance.
Sure, Alabama landed a couple of backup tight ends during the spring window: Troy's Brody Dalton and West Virginia's Jack Sammarco, but neither has made much of an impact for the Tide thus far. Freshmen Kaleb Edwards and Marshall Pritchett jumped them on the depth chart right away.
The real indicator for the spring window mattering little to DeBoer and Alabama is the fact that not one single Tide player entered the portal this spring. Not one. Alabama was the only SEC team that could say that.
In an era where players rushing into the portal is prevalent at every opportunity, it was a nice feather in the cap for DeBoer and served as one of the major reasons for the Crimson Tide's significant preseason hype. The locker room seemed to be firmly behind the second-year coach, and while the season-opening loss to Florida State ran in direct contradiction to that, Alabama has bounced back nicely the last two weeks. The schedule to come will tell the tale, however.
One Transfer Portal window is good news for Alabama, others regardless
Roster building in college sports has become a complete and total nightmare. Narrowing the portal windows to just one singular window makes the most sense and will allow coaches to have an easier time moving forward in setting their rosters.
That's good news for Alabama, even though the spring window was of little consequence to DeBoer and company six months ago. That doesn't mean that would always be the case moving forward, however, and this could ultimately lead to more players testing the portal waters in the winter window now that coaches can no longer pitch to "wait and see after spring."
DeBoer flipped the roster how he wanted in the winter window last year. He'd done all the work he needed to do heading into the spring, though a vast array of injuries to the tight end room forced Alabama to go portal shopping for depth.
That luxury won't be afforded moving forward, making the one window all the more important when identifying and anticipating what your needs might be.