2025/26 Transfer Portal & Roster Changes Thread

LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
Part of the problem as you allude to is that the 2027 recruitment effort has started at a huge deficit. This new staff has zero relationships in our natural recruiting region. They had never met the players, coaches, or even been to the schools. What sucks about that is that 2027 in PA is especially loaded with high end recruits. But we are playing from way behind.

People should take notice to the strong 2028 start with the JR day reactions and already a good commitment. But those recruits aren't as far along as the 2027 class. They are more of a blank slate.

My prediction, top 20 level 2027 class and top 15 to top 10 2028 class. We'll get there. We'll just be more reliant on the portal than fans here are accustomed.
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Hopefully, Terry Smith's deep ties to the WPIAL and his work previously as the Defense Recruiting Coordinator will yield a few top 2027 players from PA. There are big numbers of players not committed yet (only 2 of the top 17 in PA are now publically committed), and as usual a good many like to take their decisions into the Fall during their senior seasons when PSU's 2nd to none game day atmosphere comes into play.


247sports.com

2027 Top Football Recruits in Pennsylvania

The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.
247sports.com 247sports.com
 
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GregInPitt said:
Hopefully, Terry Smith's deep ties to the WPIAL and his work previously as the Defense Recruiting Coordinator will yield a few top 2027 players from PA. There are big numbers of players not committed yet (only 2 of the top 17 in PA are now publically committed), and as usual a good many like to take there decisions into the Fall during their senior seasons when PSU's 2nd to none game day atmosphere comes into play.


247sports.com

2027 Top Football Recruits in Pennsylvania

The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.
247sports.com 247sports.com
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True, Terry is the one guy with established relationships. And he is a strong recruiter. We shall see how it pans out.
 
bdroc said:
Not to be overly negative but most of the 2026 class bailed out even with Terry as interim head coach.
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That surely was disappointing. But the timing of the signing day relative to the late hire of Campbell seemed to be at least partly responsible for the collapse of the 2026 class. Especially in light of Franklin getting the VT job so soon, way before Campbell was hired. If Campbell would have been hired at least a couple weeks before the December signing day and Franklin wouldn't have gotten a head coaching job until after bowl season PSU likely would have held onto a good many of the players that followed Franklin to VT. Most of the top half of VT's 23rd ranked class.
Wiggins(4*), Mickens, Huhn(4*), Lamah(4*), Eziuka, Bright, Polydor, Lubintus, Brown (4 star WR) I believe were all solidly committed to PSU and PSU would have had a good chance to retain them in the class without Franklin getting the VT job so early and if Campbell would have been hired sooner..

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Virginia Tech 2026 Football Commits

Virginia Tech
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GregInPitt said:
That surely was disappointing. But the timing of the signing day relative to the late hire of Campbell seemed to be at least partly responsible for the collapse of the 2026 class. Especially in light of Franklin getting the VT job so soon, way before Campbell was hired. If Campbell would have been hired at least a couple weeks before the December signing day and Franklin wouldn't have gotten a head coaching job until after bowl season PSU likely would have held onto a good many of the players that followed Franklin to VT. Most of the top half of VT's 23rd ranked class.
Wiggins(4*), Mickens, Huhn(4*), Lamah(4*), Eziuka, Bright, Polydor, Lubintus, Brown (4 star WR) I believe were all solidly committed to PSU and PSU would have had a good chance to retain them in the class without Franklin getting the VT job so early and if Campbell would have been hired sooner..

247sports.com

Virginia Tech 2026 Football Commits

Virginia Tech
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Agreed, it was much more a product of uncertainty than an indictment of Terry. Terry was our best recruiter but how do you sell "we don't really know who is getting hired and what they'll run"?
 
GregInPitt said:
That surely was disappointing. But the timing of the signing day relative to the late hire of Campbell seemed to be at least partly responsible for the collapse of the 2026 class. Especially in light of Franklin getting the VT job so soon, way before Campbell was hired. If Campbell would have been hired at least a couple weeks before the December signing day and Franklin wouldn't have gotten a head coaching job until after bowl season PSU likely would have held onto a good many of the players that followed Franklin to VT. Most of the top half of VT's 23rd ranked class.
Wiggins(4*), Mickens, Huhn(4*), Lamah(4*), Eziuka, Bright, Polydor, Lubintus, Brown (4 star WR) I believe were all solidly committed to PSU and PSU would have had a good chance to retain them in the class without Franklin getting the VT job so early and if Campbell would have been hired sooner..

247sports.com

Virginia Tech 2026 Football Commits

Virginia Tech
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Let VT and all other schools develop or mothball the young talent they recruit, then purchase them later as they fit the roster. The new Penn State system and leadership installed by CMC is the program's core competency. Performance, not potential.
And Penn State needs to continue to build its war chest for this. It is what it is until it isn't.
 
Frank Lee said:
Let VT and all other schools develop or mothball the young talent they recruit, then purchase them later as they fit the roster. The new Penn State system and leadership installed by CMC is the program's core competency. Performance, not potential.
And Penn State needs to continue to build its war chest for this. It is what it is until it isn't.
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The top teams will continue to recruit the top high school players. The competition money wise for the top portal players will be greater than even for the top high school players as the best in the portal have much less risk for underperforming. So it seems that the most rational approach is to develop high school talent, the best talent you can recruit, and supplient it with some portal players that fill specific needs.

Campbell in his limited overall comments has stated that he sells his and his staffs ability to develop young players. He says plainly that his program will be about player development, and that's clearly not a focus on waiting to see what's available in the portal each year and then outbidding everyone for what he needs. Don't know why you believe the plan is for recruiting a team from 2nd 30 teams like VT.
 
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GregInPitt said:
The top teams will continue to recruit the top high school players The competition for the top portal players will be greater than even for the top high school players so it seems that the most rational approach is to develop high school talent, the best talent you can recruit, and supplient it with some portal players that fill specific needs. Campbell in his limited overall comments has stated that he sells his and his staffs ability to develop young players. He says plainly that his program will be about player development, and that's clearly not a focus on waiting to see what's available in the portal each year and then outbidding everyone for what he needs. Don't know why you believe the plan is for recruiting a team from 2nd 30 teams like VT.
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I go by free market dynamics and law #1 in economics that people prefer more to less. If this was the environment ten years ago, then Saquon Barkley could have easily been a Duck, a Buck, or a Bulldog. Any young recruit can leave a program at anytime. Recruit them, but you still need to pay for them. Also, VT was just an example. Players can be pulled from anywhere, like Skattebo from Sac State or Chambliss from Ferris State. Again, every team is aware of most everybody, so finding diamonds in the rough is a critical talent that a good staff can provide. See Cignetti.
On a similar note, people on the Philly board used to brag about Jay Wright's recruiting for team chemistry, culture, and depth. I happen to agree. Whether the players are brought in from HS or the portal, that is the correct formula IMHO.
 
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GregInPitt said:
That surely was disappointing. But the timing of the signing day relative to the late hire of Campbell seemed to be at least partly responsible for the collapse of the 2026 class. Especially in light of Franklin getting the VT job so soon, way before Campbell was hired. If Campbell would have been hired at least a couple weeks before the December signing day and Franklin wouldn't have gotten a head coaching job until after bowl season PSU likely would have held onto a good many of the players that followed Franklin to VT. Most of the top half of VT's 23rd ranked class.
Wiggins(4*), Mickens, Huhn(4*), Lamah(4*), Eziuka, Bright, Polydor, Lubintus, Brown (4 star WR) I believe were all solidly committed to PSU and PSU would have had a good chance to retain them in the class without Franklin getting the VT job so early and if Campbell would have been hired sooner..

247sports.com

Virginia Tech 2026 Football Commits

Virginia Tech
247sports.com 247sports.com
Click to expand...
I'll be honest. I don't really care about losing any player tied to the JF regime. It had become a toxic mess and it seems like JF sold himself and not PSU. I would have looked at every kid that committed to JF the same as every kid that committed from FL...the chance of transferring out is high
 
Frank Lee said:
I go by free market dynamics and law #1 in economics that people prefer more to less. If this was the environment ten years ago, then Saquon Barkley could have easily been a Duck, a Buck, or a Bulldog. Any young recruit can leave a program at anytime. Recruit them, but you still need to pay for them. Also, VT was just an example. Players can be pulled from anywhere, like Skattebo from Sac State or Chambliss from Ferris State. Again, every team is aware of most everybody, so finding diamonds in the rough is a critical talent that a good staff can provide. See Cignetti.
On a similar note, people on the Philly board used to brag about Jay Wright's recruiting for team chemistry, culture, and depth. I happen to agree. Whether the players are brought in from HS or the portal, that is the correct formula IMHO.
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If you look at the Steelers NFL drafts of the early 70's they found many diamonds in the rough, but with the in depth scounting that all NFL teams use now together with the opportunity to see them and compare them at the NFL Combine diamonds in the rough are much more rare. The same is true in college football, so I don't believe any team has much of an advantage in finding "diamonds in the rough". Franklin it seemed was the first to identify a some top talent, including Justin Fields. But that advantage quickly evaporated when other teams recognized his talent and outbid PSU for him. Before legal NIL so we don't really know what is was other than he stayed with his home state team.

The two players you mentioned are exampes of rare finds, but that doesn't mean that the teams they went to were the only ones that pursued them. They likely had multiple teams after them just like the top players from the top 20 teams that went into the portal. Any player with talent that believes in himself will more than likely shop his services around if they are from UGA or Ferris State. And the expanded coaching staffs of todays top college teams now have the resources to scour the country for talent in order to find help at traditional powers or at Slippery Rock or where ever. What we don't know is their individual decision making factors and priorities as some value being close to family or other non $ factors moreso than others which for me makes generalizations about motives inaccurate.

I agree that team chemistry is important. But not as important as talent and coaching, both player development and game strategy. Franklin by all reports seemed to develop a high level of team chemistry, but when things go sour for a team like they did this past season for PSU the chemistry can still break down. Gotta hand it to Terry Smith for rallying the troops, sorting out the locker room and putting PSU back on track for the remainder of last season. It goes beyond the 4 wins as the team also played well under his direction before that, particularly by giving IU the best game they had played against them all season.
 
GregInPitt said:
If you look at the Steelers NFL drafts of the early 70's they found many diamonds in the rough, but with the in depth scounting that all NFL teams use now together with the opportunity to see them and compare them at the NFL Combine diamonds in the rough are much more rare. The same is true in college football, so I don't believe any team has much of an advantage in finding "diamonds in the rough". Franklin it seemed was the first to identify a some top talent, including Justin Fields. But that advantage quickly evaporated when other teams recognized his talent and outbid PSU for him. Before legal NIL so we don't really know what is was other than he stayed with his home state team.

The two players you mentioned are exampes of rare finds, but that doesn't mean that the teams they went to were the only ones that pursued them. They likely had multiple teams after them just like the top players from the top 20 teams that went into the portal. Any player with talent that believes in himself will more than likely shop his services around if they are from UGA or Ferris State. And the expanded coaching staffs of todays top college teams now have the resources to scour the country for talent in order to find help at traditional powers or at Slippery Rock or where ever. What we don't know is their individual decision making factors and priorities as some value being close to family or other non $ factors moreso than others which for me makes generalizations about motives inaccurate.

I agree that team chemistry is important. But not as important as talent and coaching, both player development and game strategy. Franklin by all reports seemed to develop a high level of team chemistry, but when things go sour for a team like they did this past season for PSU the chemistry can still break down. Gotta hand it to Terry Smith for rallying the troops, sorting out the locker room and putting PSU back on track for the remainder of last season. It goes beyond the 4 wins as the team also played well under his direction before that, particularly by giving IU the best game they had played against them all season.
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Drafting is a lot of luck, to be honest. Another good example is Puka Nacua. Fifth rounder for the Rams. Sure the Rams drafted him but they passed on him four times and every other team passed 5 times.
 
Sheriff Coffee said:
Drafting is a lot of luck, to be honest. Another good example is Puka Nacua. Fifth rounder for the Rams. Sure the Rams drafted him but they passed on him four times and every other team passed 5 times.
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A. Brown was a 5th or 6th as well. Led the league for a couple of years. That same year they took another WR, name escapes me, in the 3rd who was very good. I'm hoping the Steelers don't trade away too many of their I believe 12 picks (1 1st, 1 2nd, 3 3rds....) and take 3 WR's. They need two and history shows it probably takes at least 5 picks to get two really good ones unless they are picked in the first 25 picks of the 1st round. Nacua is a stud.
 
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