Top CFB Storylines Coming out of Spring Games, Transfer Portal

The offseason is never a quiet time in college football.

While the rumors of future College Football Playoff expansion and the looming House settlement are popular topics, the spring months have also brought headlines out of spring games and the transfer portal.

As happened with Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee, for example, it might be more accurate to say "bombshells" than "headlines" in some situations.

We've watched quarterback battles. We've seen a whole bunch of transfers—several for a second time in the offseason. Oh, and there's that whole Bill Belichick business at North Carolina, too.

Storylines—they are everywhere.

Gone are the days of fans packing in stadiums for a scrimmage. Spring games, as we once knew them, are going away.

The catch-all reason is a competitive disadvantage.

Because of the spring game's availability in recent years, coaches have routinely had a basic plan. They wouldn't show much of the playbook in order to avoid opponents seeing a unique formation, new tendencies and so on.

However, the latest concern—one first said loudly by Nebraska coach Matt Rhule—is the scrimmage doubles as an invitation for tampering by other programs.

Soon enough, more than 20 schools announced they would either not have a traditional spring game or abandon it altogether.

Perhaps you believe there is an unhealthy bit of paranoia in the thought process. But, hey, that's nothing new around the college football world. Or, maybe the coaches are actually doing a good thing for their programs.

Ether way, this is a trend that is unlikely to disappear soon.

Notre Dame's three-man QB competition between Steve Angeli, CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey caught the most attention during the Blue-Gold Game.

Within a week, it was a two-man group.

Angeli, the veteran of the position, chose to enter the transfer portal. He's since headed to Syracuse and should contend for a starting job there—but that decision also suggested where ND is headed this season.

Minchey has a chance, sure. He performed well enough in the spring to stay in the battle, which wasn't the external expectation.

Nevertheless, it would be stunning if Carr is not the starter in Week 1 at Miami. He's been viewed as the quarterback of the future, and it's hard to believe ND wouldn't have put up a greater fight to keep Angeli if someone else wasn't ready.

I am tired of this already.

Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick has taken over at North Carolina. He's tasked with elevating a program that has been competent lately but only cracked double-digit victories once in this millennium.

It's been five months since UNC hired Belichick. Media attention was inevitable, but these headlines are just getting bizarre.

Belichick asked that his girlfriend, 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, be included on all communications regarding social media and web contact.

Later, reports emerged of NFL Films' Hard Knocks planning to feature the Tar Heels. According to reporting done by The Athletic, UNC pursued the project "at the request of Coach Belichick." But then, as only final signatures were needed on the agreement, the production died.

Hudson also posted a screenshot of an email showing Belichick's purported malcontent of how the media handled his ongoing book tour. That followed an awkward CBS News interview where she shut down a question of how they met.

North Carolina, reportedly, is now concerned about the influence of Hudson, who does not hold an official role at the university yet is heavily involved.

Is it the football season yet?

In the words of Stephanie Tanner: How rude.

Oklahoma and Texas, the former Big 12 powers now in the SEC, are attractive destinations for transfers. This is nothing new. During the spring window, though, the longtime rivals put a hurting on the ACC's West Coast programs.

Most notably, OU swiped Cal running back Jaydn Ott—who amassed 3,333 scrimmage yards and 30 total touchdowns in three seasons. But the Sooners also added Stanford offensive lineman Jake Maikkula, a two-year starter on The Farm with experience at both guard positions and center.

Texas, meanwhile, picked up Cal tight end Jack Endries and Stanford wide receiver Emmett Mosley V to fortify Arch Manning's pass-catching unit. They each reeled in 48-plus passes last season.

Cal and Stanford fans, you're welcome to unite in disappointment.

Nico Iamaleava, who helped Tennessee make the College Football Playoff, has become a figurehead of the challenges in the NIL era.

In short: His representation asked for more money in a reworked NIL deal with Tennessee's collective, Spyre Sports Group. Ultimately, those discussions didn't lead to a new agreement. The quarterback skipped practice a day before UT's spring game and soon entered the portal.

Iamaleava then landed at UCLA, which had brought in Appalachian State starter Joey Aguilar during the winter transfer period.

So, understandably, Aguilar re-entered his name in the portal. And wouldn't you know it, Tennessee needed to bolster its depth at quarterback.

I think we consider this saga a rare college football trade.

I personally do not track the amount of players who transfer twice in the same offseason—apologies for prioritizing my sanity—but it certainly feels like the number of these situations is surging.

Tanner Koziol, a two-time All-MAC tight end at Ball State, initially went to Wisconsin. He left after the spring and landed at Houston.

Mikai Gbayor started at linebacker for Nebraska last season, transferred to Missouri and is now at North Carolina—which also saw quarterback Ryan Browne, a winter arrival from Purdue, return to the Boilermakers.

Browne isn't even the highest-profile player to play the Uno reserve card. Wide receiver Micah Hudson, the first 5-star prospect to sign with Texas Tech, bolted for Texas A&M in December but is back in Lubbock.

Ready for a head-spinner?

Running back Rashad Amos began his career at South Carolina, parlayed a 1,000-yard season at Miami (Ohio) into a transfer to Ole Miss—complete with verbal commitment flips from Mississippi State to Colorado to Ole Miss—left for Memphis after the season and moved to Georgia State after the spring.

This, of course, is a very significant exception to the rule. Simultaneously, there's no better example of the player movement era.