Grad Transfers: How G5 schools are turning into P5 training grounds

Photo by Tim Warner/Getty ImagesCollege football’s off-season is in full swing and its version of free agency is the increasingly popular graduate transfer.

The grad transfer exception allows players who have completed their degree, to transfer without being ineligible for a year. Teams around the country use it to their advantage to add depth, or to find the missing piece to their championship puzzle.

But what happens to G5 programs when players from “smaller schools,” choose to make their way to greener pastures?

In-between confetti raining on Alabama after the Sugar Bowl and opening week of the 2018 season, 165 players switched teams as grad transfers.

Almost one-fourth of those transfers…