Welcome to a special edition of Around the SEC. Today, we are examining who were the winners and losers of the initial transfer portal window. As a reminder, the portal closed to entrants on December 28th; however, those in the portal can remain in there past December 28th to decide on a new school.
This examination of winners and losers is of course subject to change. For instance, the Branch brothers, Zachariah and Zion, are still in the portal and would swing any school who landed them firmly in the winners category.
Without further ado, let’s take a look around the league’s portal activity.
Winner: Brian Kelly
LSU head coach Brian Kelly is certainly on a warm seat heading into the 2025 season after going 8-4 in 2024. Kelly responded to an underwhelming season by cleaning up in the portal, landing Barrion Brown (WR, Kentucky), Nic Anderson (WR, Oklahoma), and Mansoor Delane (DB, Virginia Tech), and Patrick Payton (DE, Florida State) amongst others.
Loser: Tennessee
The Vols end up here almost solely due to WR Mike Matthews, a five-star recruit in 2024, entering the portal. Matthews could end up returning to the Vols, or he could come back home and commit to the G.
Winner: Auburn
Unlike Brian Kelly, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is not on a warm seat – that seat is burning hot. Freeze had not found his quarterback to lead his offense until this portal cycle. Not only did Freeze land Jackson Arnold from Oklahoma, but he also received a commitment from former Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels as well as a the number one WR in the portal in Eric Singleton from Georgia Tech. If Freeze can’t get any of his 2025 quarterbacks to perform at a high level, the boosters on the Plains will have no problem forking over his buyout money.
Loser: Deuce Knight
With Auburn landing two of the top quarterbacks in the portal, five-start QB Deuce Knight may be questioning his pledge to the Tigers. Knight will almost certainly stay with Auburn for the 2025 season, but one must ponder if we may see his name in the portal after the 2025 season if it looks like Arnold or Daniels will block his path to a starting role in 2026.
Once again, the portal kings Ole Miss and Texas A&M splashed the cash and racked up several high profile transfer commits. We’ve seen this story before, and we cannot crown them winners until either program proves they can make the playoff going all-in on the transfer portal strategy.