NIL deals, eligibility rules, and the playoffs expansion are just a few of the many changes college football has experienced in recent years. As the expansion of the College Football Playoff remains the major topic of discussion now, Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day has proposed another major change.

“Speaking on @971BFS, Ryan Day said he’s going to make it clear at the Big Ten meetings coming up that college football teams need to be done with the postseason before preparing the roster for the following season,” Bucknuts Patrick Murphy wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

The Buckeyes are one of the most consistent programs in the College Football Playoff, missing out on the playoffs just once in the last four seasons, since the 12-team playoff format. Notably, they emerged as National Champions after the 2024 season, defeating Notre Dame 34-23 in the College Football National Championship. However, the latter rounds of the playoffs usually coincide with the period of the transfer portal, which usually spans 15-30 days in early January.

As a result, Day understands the kind of distraction the transfer portal brings to teams and players in the most significant parts of their season. Just around the time of their most recent playoff matchup against Miami, the program had multiple players exit via the transfer portal, including wide receiver Bryson Rodgers, who departed before the Buckeyes’ loss to Miami in the Cotton Bowl.

Although there is usually an exception for athletes who play for teams in the College Football Playoff, it has a significant downside for players. Waiting for a team to conclude its playoff run means other top-tier programs would have already filled their high-priority needs, leaving fewer attractive options. A late transfer could also affect the enrollment of players before spring practice.  As such, Day thinks CFB can adjust the entire transfer portal window and decide where exactly it wants to be.

“Day said they can still have an amateur model, but right now they’re in between that and pro model and the sport needs to figure out where it wants to be in 10 years from now,”

Day lost over 30 players to the transfer portal early this year. And while the number is not the problem, he believes placing the window at another time gives room for a more competitive postseason, as players are less distracted by transfer activities. Even college programs will focus their efforts on the playoffs, and not battle the distraction of luring players to their programs. Interestingly, Day is not alone on this; other coaches have previously made the same complaints about the schedule, that something has to change.

Ryan Day finds a solution to the difficult schedule 

Day is a highly successful coach, and one of the characteristics of such coaches is that they do not give excuses. Despite the clashing schedule, Day was able to deliver a national championship in January, 2025. And as the Buckeyes chase a second in Day’s tenure, he has found a solution for the scheduling challenges.

Day is coming off a month where his program was the most successful in the nation at the NFL Draft. In 2026, he will be looking to translate the success to the field and beat the “difficult schedule” like he did early last year.