Dec 7-14 · Resumes Today at 1:30 PM UTC
Pop Warner Football Super Bowl
Jan 19, 2025, 6:00 PM UTC
Dream Bowl

FBS Players Who Entered The Transfer Portal This Spring

FBS Players Who Entered The Transfer Portal This Spring

Check out what big name FBS college football players have entered the transfer portal this spring.

May 1, 2019 by Kyle Bratke
FBS Players Who Entered The Transfer Portal This Spring

With spring football in the books, a new wave of players across the country have entered the transfer portal. Take a look at the best players who have decided to look for or found a new home since spring practice began. 

Matthew Baldwin, QB, Ohio State → TCU

While the former four-star recruit from Austin, Texas says he's transferring because he's homesick, it could also have a lot to do with the fact that Georgia transfer Justin Fields has control of the starting QB race and has at least two seasons before he is draft eligible. 

While Baldwin has yet to throw a pass in an actual game, he was recently 20-for-36 for 246 yards and two scores in the Buckeyes spring game. Based solely on the always reliable method of checking who Baldwin has recently followed on Twitter, TCU could be a potential landing spot for the Texas native.

UPDATE (5/8): Well, well, well, looks like my Twitter sleuthing was spot on. Baldwin will apply for immediately eligibility for the Horned Frogs. 

Check out some highlights of Baldwin at Ohio State's 2019 spring game.

Gunnar Hoak, QB, Kentucky → Ohio State

A little over a week after losing Matthew Baldwin and being down to just two scholarship quarterbacks, the Buckeyes got good news when Ohio native Gunnar Hoak announced he was returning to his home state. 

Hoak was a three-star recruit coming out of high school and saw action in four games for the Wildcats a season ago. While he only threw 26 passes in those four games, he was recently terrific in Kentucky's spring game going 23-of-30 for 264 yards and two scores. Hoak provides the Buckeyes some more depth in quarterback room because you really don't want Chris Chugunov as your backup quarterback...just ask West Virginia fans. 

Tommy Stevens, QB, Penn State → Mississippi State

Heading into the offseason it appeared that Stevens was the heir apparent to Trace McSorley. However, an injury late last season kept him sidelined for most of spring practice and Sean Clifford took advantage of Stevens absence.

With Clifford's strong performance he had control of the starting job and Stevens didn't want to spend his final year of eligibility on the sideline. Stevens is a grad transfer and will be eligible to play immediately. In three years of game appearances, Stevens has accounted for 700 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns. 

UPDATE (5/3): Stevens currently has three official visits set. 

UPDATE (5/7): Stevens also took an official visit to Kentucky.

UPDATE (5/17): Stevens is rejoining his former offensive coordinator at Penn State, Joe Moorhead. Keytaon Thompson came out of the spring as the leader in clubhouse for the starting QB job. A year ago, Thompson appeared in six games last season for the Bulldogs throwing for six touchdowns and rushing for another four.  

Watch some of Stevens' best moments as a Nittany Lion.

Colson Yankoff, QB, Washington → ?

In 24 hours Washington lost 40% of their quarterback room when former four-star recruits and redshirt freshman Colson Yankoff and Jacob Sirmon decided they wanted to look for new homes. The decision likely comes from Jacob Eason and Jake Haener having a strong lead in the QB battle. 

Yankoff didn't appear in a game for the Huskies, but coming out of high school was the nation's ninth-ranked dual-threat quarterback and had offers from Ole Miss, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, and many more. 

UPDATE (5/7): The only news we have so far on Yankoff is that he is taking an unofficial visit to conference rival UCLA.

Jacob Sirmon, QB, Washington → Jk, He's Staying At Washington

See above. 

Like Yankoff, Sirmon never appeared in a game for Washington. Coming out of high school he was the seventh-ranked pro-style quarterback in the class of 2018 and held offers from Alabama, LSU, Nebraska, UCLA, and plenty more. 

UPDATE: (5/2): After a meeting with head Chris Petersen and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan, Sirmon will remove his name from the transfer portal and stay at Washington. 

Jalon Jones, QB, Florida → ?

It didn't take Jalon Jones very long to decide he didn't want to stay in Gainesville. Jones enrolled in January and after spring practice was in the books for the Gators decided he wanted to find a new home.

Jones only had three pass and rush attempts during Florida's spring game earlier this month. The early enrollee would have had a tough time climbing over redshirt junior Feleipe Franks and redshirt freshman Emory Jones on the depth chart. 

There should be plenty of suitors for Jones as he was the fourteenth-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2019 with offers from Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State. 

UPDATE (5/2): This troubling report could be the reason why Jones is leaving Gainesville. 

Layne Hatcher, QB, Alabama → Arkansas State

Of all of the transfers on this list, this one makes the most sense. The Little Rock native was originally committed to Arkansas State until late May of his senior season when Alabama offered him and he flipped. Until the Crimson Tide swooped in, the Red Wolves were the only FBS school to offer Hatcher. 

Hatcher didn't see the field at all last season and likely wouldn't have if he had chosen to stay at Alabama with Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones, Paul Tyson, and Taulia Tagovailoa all on the roster. Hatcher will now have to sit out the 2019 season begging the question: Why did he go to Alabama in the first place? 

Matt Fink, QB, USC → ? (Maybe, Possibly Illinois)

A backup to true freshman JT Daniels a year ago, Matt Fink, met with Clay Helton and new USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell after the spring about his place on quarterback depth chart. After not liking what he heard, Fink has decided he would look for another home after he graduates in May. 

Fink only appeared in six games during his two year Trojan career throwing for 89 yards and accounting for two touchdowns. Fink was a three-star dual-threat recruit coming out of high school and will have two years of eligibility left and will be able to play right away. 

UPDATE (5/6): On May 4, MJ Rivers, who started three games for Illinois last season, entered the transfer portal. Two days later, Fink announced he was headed to Champaign. Fink enters a quarterback room with two redshirt freshmen, Matt Robinson and Coran Taylor, and four-star incoming recruit Isaiah Williams will join them later this summer. 

UPDATE (5/10): Despite what his father is telling reporters, Matt Fink took to Twitter to let the world know that he is NOT committed to Illinois. The former USC quarterback is still weighing his options. This could have something to do with Illinois recruiting the above mentioned Tommy Stevens. The last thing Fink wants to do is enter into another QB competition. 

McClane Carter, QB, Texas Tech → Rutgers

Carter entered the 2018 season as the Red Raiders starter against Ole Miss, but a first-quarter ankle injury opened the door for Alan Bowman and Jet Duffey. Carter missed the next four games and didn't see the field again until the season finale when Bowman and Duffey were both out with injuries. 

Carter appeared in 10 games as a Red Raider throwing for 677 yards and four touchdowns. Carter will be eligible immediately wherever he goes. 

UPDATE (5/5): From Gilmer, Texas to the Dirty Jerz. Carter will be eligible at Rutgers immediately and challenge returning starting quarterback Artur Sitkowski. While Sitkowski started 11 games last season, he wasn't necessarily great throwing for only four touchdowns and 18 interceptions. 

Jarrett Doege, QB, Bowling Green → West Virginia

You may be asking yourself, "Was Doege on this list initially?" No, no he wasn't. That's because Doege just decided (5/8) to enter the portal. 

Maybe the biggest surprise transfer this spring, Doege started all twelve games for Bowling Green a season ago throwing for 2,600 yards and 27 touchdowns. In total, Doege threw for over 4,000 yards and 39 touchdowns in his 17 career games for the Falcons. 

In October of last season, Bowling Green fired head coach Mike Jinks who was just 7-24 at BGSU. Doege's brother, Seth, was also on staff as a graduate assistant, wide receivers coach, and special teams coordinator. Jinks and the Seth Doege are now on staff at USC. 

UPDATE (5/16): Just over a week after entering the portal, Doege has a new home. Doege enters a quarterback room with Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall, redshirt junior Jack Allison, and freshman Trey Lowe. Doege's brother, Seth, played for new Mountaineer head coach Neal Brown at Texas Tech. Doege will likely have to sit out this season, but entering into his his true junior season, he will have three years left to play two seasons. 

Chris Steele, CB, Florida → Oregon

The curious case of Chris Steele continues. Like Doege, Steele was not on this initial list as new broke today (5/9) that he would be leaving Florida. Before arriving in Gainesville this January as a five-star early enrollee, Steele had one of the weirdest recruitments in recent memory.  

According to Gatorsports.com, Steele decided to enter the transfer portal after Steele requested to be moved to a different dorm because he was uncomfortable living with the above mentioned Jalon Jones. Steele was told he would be moved in the summer and this apparently upset Steele and his parents. 

If there is nothing else to the story, Steele will be a hot commodity and will likely receive a waiver to be eligible immediately. Steele was the number 19 player in the class of 2019 according to Rivals and had offers from Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas, USC, and nearly every other power five program in the country.

UPDATE (5/14): The southern California native is headed back to the West Coast. Oregon was a finalist for Steele the first time around. The question becomes now, will Steele receive a waiver to become eligible immediately?

Tavien Feaster, RB, Clemson → ?

Finally, we are through with the quarterbacks and on to our one and only running back. Tavien Feaster served as backup to 1,600-yard rusher Travis Etienne, but still got plenty of work. Feaster finished the season with 78 carries for 440 yards and six touchdowns. Throughout his three seasons at Clemson, Feaster racked up over 1,500 yards from scrimmage and found the end zone 16 times.

Feaster likely wants to be the feature back in an offense and will have a  year of eligibility remaining and will be able to right away after graduating later this summer from Clemson. 

UPDATE (5/9): According to Woody Wommack of Rivals.com, Alabama, East Carolina, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia Tech have all been in contact with Feaster. The Clemson grad transfer will begin setting up visits shortly. 

Feaster's top plays of the 2018 season.

Marcus Simms, WR, West Virginia → ?

New West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and the Mountaineers offense received a big blow earlier this week when Marcus Simms announced he would transfer. Simms began spring practice with the Mountaineers but was noticeably absent the final two weeks. Brown told the media he was dealing with a personal matter, but just a few weeks later the school confirmed that Simms requested to be entered into the transfer portal. 

Simms was set to be WVU's most productive returning receiver. Throughout his career in the gold and blue, Simms hauled in 87 passes for 1,457 yards and eight touchdowns. Don't be surprised to see Simms transfer back to his home state and play for the Terrapins. 

Simms best plays in a Mountaineer uniform.

Bookmark this page as we'll update the article as these players make their decisions and new players enter the infamous transfer portal.