Triangle schools assess football transfer portal as offseason reshaping continues
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Coaches prioritize roster retention and rapid portal evaluations before Jan. 16 deadline.
- Programs report bowl preparation, roster planning disrupted by consolidated winter portal.
- UNC and others adopt systematic grading and targeted portal recruiting for upgrades.
The way Duke coach Manny Diaz sees it, every college football program in the country is “fighting two dragons at the same time.”
With the NCAA transfer portal opening on Friday, Diaz said Duke’s priority — as is the case with many other schools — has been retaining its roster while making quick evaluations ahead of the January academic calendar.
With only one portal period running through Jan. 16 this year — a result of the spring window’s elimination — programs face increased pressure to make quick decisions as many top players are expected to come off the board early. While the winter window has shifted out of December, Diaz said the portal continues to affect preparation, bowl season and long-term roster planning. The Duke coach called the current portal structure “very disruptive” for players and coaches.
“It’s not just the coaches fighting two dragons,” Diaz said. “It’s the players. We’ve had questions about players opting out (of bowls) … it’s bad for the sport. It doesn’t happen in any other sport.”
N.C. State coach Dave Doeren echoed concerns about roster stability but said the shift of the portal window until after bowl games has helped.
Doeren said N.C. State has taken a firm stance on player participation, believing that players considering the transfer portal shouldn’t be part of bowl game preparation.
“I’ve always felt like if a guy’s in the portal, he’s not in on helping you win,” Doeren said in a Dec. 11 news conference.
During that same media availability, Doeren also questioned the effectiveness of recent attempts to regulate spending through NIL and roster caps, saying loopholes have created what feels like an uncapped system. He said programs are being forced to adapt quickly as some schools leverage financial advantages to rebuild their rosters through the portal.
At North Carolina, general manager Michael Lombardi and coach Bill Belichick have emphasized wanting to use the transfer portal as a systematic evaluation process rather than a reactive one. Lombardi said UNC has graded its roster annually and will use the portal to target upgrades at specific positions, emphasizing development and fit over volume.
“It’s really important to have a grading system, to have a personnel department so that we can sit there and honestly say, ‘OK, you know, we graded this player 59 who’s on our team. We need to get a better player. We need to get a 63,’” Lombardi said at UNC’s signing day Dec. 3. “That’s how you build a team. You don’t build a team by just grabbing a guy here and there … it’s systematic.”
The N&O staff has been tracking transfer portal movement for Duke, N.C. State and North Carolina throughout the offseason. Links to each program’s portal activity can be found above.
This story was originally published January 2, 2026 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Triangle schools assess football transfer portal as offseason reshaping continues."