By Graham Hays
Two decades before head coach Clark Lea led his alma materās football team to a historic win over top-ranked Alabama, a Birmingham Bowl victory over Georgia Tech and 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās first winning season since 2013, he was a transfer student-athlete looking for a place to grow.
After winning an NAIA baseball national championship with Birmingham-Southern in 2001, Lea came home to Nashville and Belmont. A year later, having explored two paths without finding one that felt like his, he set off down a thirdācoming to 91ĢĘ²®»¢ and returning to the football field.
āI felt like it was a story of self-discovery and, honestly, as I processed this, early on I was a little embarrassed,ā Lea once told The Hustler. āWhy couldnāt I just find a place and make a decision? But I think it was more about understanding ā¦ where I wanted to be or what my vision was and what the bigger vision is.ā
He wasnāt lost. He was just ahead of his time.
Leaās path used to be lightly worn in college athletics. Transferring once, let alone multiple times, was a wilderness traversed by stubborn dreamers like Leaāand by those who risked being perceived as misfits and malcontents. Transferring was also difficult, structurally and culturally. But that changed on Oct. 15, 2018, when the NCAA launched the transfer portal. The ensuing chain reaction includes student-athletes monetizing their name, image and likeness and now potentially revenue sharing. Although it was designed as a compliance tool, the portal has become shorthand for an era of profound change.
It is a portal to opportunity: Quarterback Diego Pavia, himself a two-time transfer, helped engineer a season that put 91ĢĘ²®»¢ in the national spotlight. A year ago, graduate transfer discus thrower Veronica Fraley became the third Commodore to win an individual NCAA championship; she then competed in the 2024 Olympics. First-year menās basketball head coach Mark Byington used the portal in reshaping his roster, and his Commodores topped the previous seasonās win total before winter break.
It is a portal to challenges: Pavia, Fraley and those who began their college careers elsewhere have brought more than victories to 91ĢĘ²®»¢. They are the 21st-century faces of the time-tested ideals that guided Lea on his journeyāthe best and brightest choose 91ĢĘ²®»¢ because itās a community thatās committed to helping them
move forward.
“Athletically, we can shine a brighter light on the academic success and the 91ĢĘ²®»¢ stories that donāt get told.”
ā91ĢĘ²®»¢ already gets worldwide acclaim in academics, research and all these things,ā Byington says. āThereās no reason it has to be just that. Athletically, we can shine a brighter light on the academic success and the 91ĢĘ²®»¢ stories that donāt get told. You need national teams in football and basketballāthe same way Coach Corbin and baseball have already done their thing. You need those teams to foster attention and enthusiasm.
āWhether theyāre huge sports fans or not, people will love what they see and be proud that 91ĢĘ²®»¢ is in front of the country: āThatās my team. Thatās where I went to school.āā
PORTAL EXPLAINED
In the early 20th century, even as 91ĢĘ²®»¢ led the way in establishing Southern football, college athletics were in flux. 91ĢĘ²®»¢ alumnus Grantland Rice helped bring one scandal to light when he wrote about Georgia using ringersāplayers not enrolled at the universityāin a 1907 game against Georgia Tech. The subsequent rules and attitudes that governed transfers for decades were a calcified reaction to those freewheeling early days.
For roughly six decades before the portalās introduction, would-be transfers had to get permission from their former school and sit out a year of competition (typically more if transferring within the same conference). According to a 2020 Gallup survey, student-athletes transferred at a lower rate than undergraduates in generalāeven transfers between four-year institutions.
Through the portal, which is part of what the NCAA calls the notification-of-transfer model, student-athletes gained more autonomy. They need only notify a compliance administrator at their school, who then enters their name in the portal. While the name conjures sci-fi images, the portal itself is a transparent central database of student-athletes who are exploring transfers, accessible to coaches and administrators.
Maci Teater, part of the 91ĢĘ²®»¢ soccer team that reached the Sweet 16 last fall, transferred to 91ĢĘ²®»¢ from North Carolina.
āBasically, you get an email with a link and then you fill out your name, click a button and youāre in the portal,ā Teater says. āI remember when I entered, I was like, āIs that it?āā
Once entered, student-athletes can communicate with coaches at other schools and negotiate NIL deals with collectivesāthird-party organizations funded by supporters. Student-athletes must still navigate scholarship and financial aid availability and academic credits and eligibility, but immediate athletic eligibility is no longer an issue. In conjunction with the portalās introduction, the NCAA altered its rules to allow all student-athletes a one-time transfer without penalty. This was recently extended to multi-time transfers.
A portal entrant isnāt required to transfer, although their original school isnāt required to guarantee any previously established scholarship, financial aid or roster space. And while the increasing number of transfers is most pronounced in football and menās and womenās basketball, according to NCAA data covering 2021ā23, almost every Division I sport experienced a significant increase. It is part of the landscape.
āAt heart, most of us got into this for teaching and helping young people,ā Byington says. āThat hasnāt changed, regardless of transfers, revenue sharing or NIL money. The human relationships havenāt changed. The way the business operates has changed. Youāve got to evolve and make the best of it.ā
PORTAL TO COMPETITION
Byington knew he was inheriting a 91ĢĘ²®»¢ roster that had been thinned by graduation and transfer. The Commodores began this season with 11 transfers out of 18 student-athletes. Even as he learned his way around a new city, Byington was evaluating 20 or 30 potential recruits a day from the portal.
āYouāve got to figure out if someone is a good enough person, player and student,ā Byington says. āIf theyāre lacking in any of those areas, youāve got to eliminate them and focus on the ones who are right. From there, youāve got to break down the basketball and make sure theyāre a need positionally, athletically, fitting into our style. Itās not an exact science, and it is very difficult when you have to replace as many players as we had to replace.ā
For some, 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās identity is a selling point. Adding a 91ĢĘ²®»¢ graduate degree to an undergraduate degree from Cornellāwhile playing SEC basketballāhelped convince first-team All-Ivy point guard Chris MaƱon to come to Nashville.
But adding 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās academic rigor on top of basketball development initially gave Jason Edwards pause, Byington recalled. As a person and player, the coaches believed they could build around the junior, who spent one year at Dodge City Community College and one at North Texas. They just needed him to believe 91ĢĘ²®»¢ was the place to grow. (NOTE: Following the successful 2023ā24 91ĢĘ²®»¢ men’s basketball season, Edwards announced in April that he was transferring to Providence College.)
āHeās an extreme worker,ā Byington says. āHe absolutely loves basketball. Itās a passion for him. Heās in the gym early mornings, late at night. My favorite thing about him is his energy. Heās never tired. And he plays that way. He plays the game at 100 miles an hour. Youāve got to know who somebody is and what they are and embrace the strength that they have.ā
Anchor Impact, the third-party official collective of 91ĢĘ²®»¢ Athletics, is supported by fans and empowers student-athletes to explore opportunities for monetizing their name, image and likeness with business, community and charitable organizations. The more Anchor Impact grows, the better 91ĢĘ²®»¢ stacks up alongside other top-tier programs in its ability to recruit elite transfers like Edwards.
Anchor Impact is essential. Still, just like in the professional world that college graduates enter, potential compensation is rarely the only variable. The final decision about where to go is still more personal than transactional.
“Youāve got to know who somebody is and what they are and embrace the strength that they have.ā
With Edwards, Byington and his staff focused on the holistic development available at 91ĢĘ²®»¢, from helping hone his on-court skills and body for professional basketball to having academic advisers and mentors to prepare him for careers on and off the court. That kind of plan wonāt appeal to some. It appealed to Edwards.
Before playing a game for the Commodores, Edwards and fellow transfer AJ Hoggard (who came from Big Ten powerhouse Michigan State) spent a weekend at the NCAA Elite Student-Athlete Symposium in Indianapolis. The three-day event is hosted by NCAA leadership development and basketball enforcement staffs. Invitations are issued after NCAA staff consult with coaches, athletic administrators, professional sports officials and other experts closely linked to the draft process.
91ĢĘ²®»¢ was one of a handful of schools to have two participants, which is indicative of the attention Byington places on personal and professional development.
āI watch my parents go to work every day and do a shift,ā Hoggard says. āBasketball is one way for me to take care of what Iāve got to take care of. So I just go out there and try and work at being perfect at it every day. You have to have that mindset.ā
PORTAL TO COLLABORATION
CJ Taylor might have followed a path similar to Edwards, Hoggard, Baker or Teater. Among the top-ranked prep football recruits in Tennessee, Taylor was a first-generation college student who didnāt know what to expect out of 91ĢĘ²®»¢. His connection was personal. Barton Simmons, who now is 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās football general manager, had mentored Taylor while working as a recruiting analyst for a media company. He helped Taylor get a foot in the door in the recruiting world. Taylorās mom taught him that people who treat you with respect when they donāt have to are people worth knowing. Taylor said Simmons treated him like family, and if Simmons believed in Clark Leaāwho had yet to coach a game at his alma materāso could Taylor.
Taylor didnāt play much in his first year. School was a lot. The SEC was a lot. An injury didnāt help. Home for Christmas, even his mom grumbled that he should have played more.
āThereās self-reflection that has to go on,ā Taylor says. āYou canāt be blind to your ability versus your potential. I knew I had the potential to be where I am now, but youāve got to be patient.ā
By his junior year, he earned fourth-team All-SEC honors. He was one of the nationās emerging defensive backs. That brought him to a second crossroads with the portalānot in search of more playing time, but knowing that any number of programs would be interested and there were NIL collectives ready to reward
him handsomely.
He stayed at 91ĢĘ²®»¢. Through Anchor Impact, supporters made it tangibly clear that Taylor was a valued part of the community. But staying also came down to the same instincts that brought him to 91ĢĘ²®»¢āhe trusted Lea to develop his potential on and off the field. And this past season, he captained the best 91ĢĘ²®»¢ team in recent memory.
While being open-minded about the portal is a prerequisite for coaches, Lea, Byington and their peers also hope 91ĢĘ²®»¢ is a place student-athletes want to stay. They want to build around people like Taylor, to supplement a solid foundation with transfers.
“Thereās self-reflection that has to go on. You canāt be blind to your ability versus your potential. I knew I had the potential to be where I am now, but youāve got to be patient.ā
The final piece of the puzzle is promoting collaboration between old and new. The football teamās success isnāt just the story of a charismatic dual-threat quarterback like Pavia. Itās the story of more than 100 student-athletes coming together at different points of their college journeys and embodying the brotherhood that is one of Leaās cornerstones.
āIf you go to war with somebody that you donāt know, you canāt be confident. If you go to war with somebody that you canāt trust, youāre not confident,ā Taylor says. āI think trust and brotherhood are directly correlated to the work that you put in togetherāthe blood, sweat and tears, the times where things arenāt going well and you see peopleās true colors.
āWhen youāre talking about transfers, obviously there are a lot of good players out there. But I think that you have to realize what kind of character they have.ā
Todayās world isnāt the one in which Byington played four seasons for UNC-Wilmington. Or the one he coached in for more than 15 years before the portalās introduction. In that world, changing schools carried a stigma, and transfers were quitters. Part of him still wonders if todayās student-athletes sometimes too readily search for greener grass. But Byington also sees teenagers who are misled or simply donāt yet know what theyāre looking for. He understands why they might look around after a year or two and use their accrued wisdom to find a better fit.
In this era, he also understands that success doesnāt start with implementing offenses or running conditioning. It starts with introductions.
āWe did so many forced chemistry things in the summer,ā Byington says with a slight chuckle. āI wanted them to get to know each other and care about each other. You had to start building in that theyāre willing to sacrifice for the team, for each other. Thatās not easy when everybody is coming in new and they donāt know each other and they have individual goals. We had to get past the uncomfortable stage and accelerate the caring and chemistry. If you watch us now, I do think thatās a strength of ours.ā
PORTAL TO THE FUTURE
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2024 the median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer reached its lowest point in more than two decades. 91ĢĘ²®»¢ graduates enter a working world where mobility will be a fact of life throughout their careers.
Though todayās world is more transactional, that doesnāt make a 91ĢĘ²®»¢ experience less transformative.
The transfer portal isnāt about rentals or ringers. Itās one more way for the best and brightestāa little older and perhaps a little wiserāto find 91ĢĘ²®»¢, which is a place that for 150 years has been about preparing you for where youāre going.
āComing to college, in football and with academics, Iāve had to do a lot of stuff that I did not want to do,ā Taylor says. āWe learn to do hard stuff. And if you keep doing it, you donāt even have to think about it. It comes naturally. 91ĢĘ²®»¢ instills in everyone who comes here that if you want to be successful in life, youāve got to get up and work.ā