It's Official: 10 Days in January. Start Your Transfer Homework Now.

On October 7, the NCAA's Division I Cabinet approved a single 10-day transfer window for FBS and FCS football. It opens on the first business day after January 1. For the coming cycle, that's reported as Monday, January 4, 2027.

Ten days is not a lot of time. You'll be entering the portal, taking calls, maybe visiting, and choosing a school, all in about a week and a half. The athletes who choose well won't be the ones who start researching on January 4. They'll be the ones who did the homework in October, November and December.

Why 10 days changes the math

The people who recruited you may not be there in January. In the 2024-25 cycle, FBS programs made 57 offensive coordinator changes and 54 defensive coordinator changes, and averaged 4.1 new on-field hires per team (CBS Sports). Over two years, 44.9% of FBS programs changed head coaches.

Going into 2026, half of all FBS head coaches had been on the job for less than three seasons (FootballScoop). Many firings and hires land in late November and December, right before the window opens.

So the coach on your list in October may be gone by the time you enter the portal. A short window leaves no time to start over.

Your mid-season checklist

You're in season, so keep it simple. Pick up to five programs you'd seriously consider, and track these for each one:

1. Who coaches your position, and how long have they been there? Write down the head coach, your position coach and the coordinator on your side of the ball, and their year on the job.
2. What do they actually run? Watch a few of their games, not the highlight reel. A zone-running team and a gap-power team want different backs and linemen. A press-man defense wants different corners than a zone team.
3. Who's in your position room? Count the players at your spot and their class years. Note who's leaving after this season and who's expected to transfer in.
4. Is anyone on that staff on the hot seat? If the head coach changes, the coordinators and your position coach often change too.
5. What's your own deadline? Know the date you have to decide, and work backward from January 4.
6. Keep it in one place. Notes, a spreadsheet or one group chat. When the window opens, you won't have time to dig through old texts.

Confirm these with your compliance office

The portal rules have changed several times in two years, and early reports don't cover every detail. Before you plan around a date, ask your school's compliance office:

• The exact open and close dates of the January window for you.
• Whether a head-coaching change at your school opens a separate window, and how long it lasts.
• How postseason games affect your timing if your team plays in January.
• What entering the portal means for your scholarship, eligibility and academic standing.

Get the answers in writing, by email, so you have them when the window opens.

The bottom line

Ten days is enough time to decide. It is not enough time to research. Do the homework now, while the season is still going, and January becomes a choice instead of a scramble.

CoachChecK helps athletes and families check the coach, the program and the call before it counts. Our Portal Cast pre-sale sends college athletes organized alerts on coaching, roster and scheme changes at the programs they follow. Questions: team@coachcheck.io.

Sources

• NCAA.org: Division I Cabinet approves new transfer windows in several sports (Oct 7, 2026)
• KATC / Acadiana News First: NCAA approves new 10-day college football transfer portal window (Oct 8, 2026)
• CBS Sports: College football has never seen more coaching changes (May 27, 2025)
• FootballScoop: Re-ranking every FBS head coaching tenure, 2026 edition (Jan 22, 2026)