Start with the timeline. Switch between the current schedule and the proposed cycle; proposed dates are illustrative.
Proposed transfer portal: January 28–February 10, 2027 · 14 days. Limited spring exceptions: May 1–7 · seven days. These are illustrative proposal dates, not current NCAA rules. Portal and coaching dates → · Quick transfer-market answers →
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January 2027 → August 2028
An illustrative cycle, not an approved launch: player and coaching markets, the season, both tournaments, and the next offseason. Adoption requires a completed championship and passed validation gates.
10 events · Roster and coaching
Changeover and roster market
3 events
ProposedJan 26–Feb 8, 2027
Roster and coaching
Coaching movement window
FBS head-coach and full-time staff changes move into one nationally published window after the title game.
Purpose, rule & source
Purpose
Programs should not raid staffs while teams are preparing for postseason games.
Operating rule
Formal FBS-to-FBS hiring activity begins after the championship.
Players whose agreements have ended—or who hold a written release, no-fault exit, buyout right, or for-cause remedy—receive fourteen days to enter the national market. Entry does not itself erase existing aid or support.
Purpose, rule & source
Purpose
Athletes see coaching outcomes before making a movement decision, while rosters still settle before spring practice.
Operating rule
No lifetime transfer count. Contractual freedom controls; tampering rules protect athletes with active commitments. Independent advice, written offers, and credit-and-eligibility review clocks apply.
Transfer visits, written player-school agreements, final roster decisions, and one coordinated high-school signing period occur after market entry closes.
Purpose, rule & source
Purpose
The sequence reduces simultaneous recruiting, staff movement, postseason play, and academic disruption.
Operating rule
Every commitment states term, compensation, guarantees, duties, exits, buyouts, breach remedies, coaching-change treatment, health protection, and dispute process before signature.
A seven-day lane covers program discontinuation, material school breach, an agreement’s written coaching-change right, aid loss, degree completion, and documented hardship.
Purpose, rule & source
Purpose
A narrow correction mechanism protects people from material change without reopening unrestricted roster shopping.
Operating rule
Published, appealable categories only. An athlete with an active agreement still needs the agreement’s exit, release, buyout, or for-cause remedy.
Contractually free players may explore after initial coaching decisions become visible without automatically surrendering aid or team support.
Purpose, rule & source
Purpose
Sequencing and a postseason extension protect players on teams that advance deepest.
Operating rule
No lifetime transfer count. Fourteen-day entry lane with active-agreement tampering protection, written offer disclosure, credit-review deadlines, and independent advice.
Rivalry week closes the regular season; conference titles, selection, and postseason rounds follow. Christmas has a no-game pause, with time off and practice protections still to be agreed. Campus dates need local academic and hosting checks, and national windows need NFL and broadcast coordination. Coaching movement and the primary contractually free player market wait until every championship is complete.