The NCAA transfer portal is open for almost the entire month of December, which brings an element of chaos to college football that's tough for coaches and administrators to navigate — especially for the 12 programs that are competing in the College Football Playoff. 

Due to the timing of the winter portal window, players on playoff teams feel compelled to enter the portal immediately to secure a spot with a new program before all of the available spots are filled.

It's mostly depth options, backup players, and young players from playoff teams that are entering the portal. But even though we aren't seeing key starters enter the portal for playoff teams, it's still an unfortunate scenario for players, coaches, and teammates.  

Because of the timing of the academic calendar, the winter transfer portal window can't be pushed back. 

(Note: Players on playoff teams have five days after their team's last game to enter the portal. Players, however, are entering before that to take advantage of the available roster spots in December.) 

There's a very simple fix to the portal madness in December that would also have a positive impact on the sport — eliminate the winter transfer window. 

Instead of providing a transfer window in December, the sport should consider having just one transfer window that opens in May, when the academic year ends, that runs until July. 

Not only would this level the playing field in December, and make life easier for coaches, but it might even curb portal action, which would undoubtedly be better for the sport. 

The reason this scenario probably won't gain much traction is because it would mean that transfer players wouldn't be able to go through spring practice. 

But I think it's the perfect answer to college football's growing portal issues. 

For starters, if transfer players can't participate in spring practice, coaches may no longer view the portal as an immediate roster-building tool, as they do now. It would shift the focus of coaches back to building a program through high school recruiting, rather than relying on the portal.

Secondly, it would give players and coaches more time to make sure they're making the right decisions. We often see players make a quick portal decision in December only to re-enter the portal in the spring because they didn't know exactly what they were getting into. 

Ultimately, I think the portal is a good thing. I think players should be able to transfer and be eligible immediately. And I think NIL is a good thing. This sport is generating an insane amount of revenue annually. There is no revenue, however, without the players. They are the sport. And they absolutely deserve a large piece of the pie. 

But this current setup isn't ideal. Dealing with this chaos isn't sustainable for coaches — it's a nightmare for coaches to manage a roster while trying to win a playoff game. Throw in the coaching carousel on top of it and it's just complete madness for everyone involved in the sport. 

Most importantly, though, the current setup is terrible for development. And that's what this sport is supposed to be about. 

College players need time to develop. And since development isn't linear, there's no "right answer" when it comes to how much time a player needs. Some guys are ready to thrive as true freshmen. Others don't take off until their senior year. It's different for everyone. 

The absolute best path for a player's development is to stay at a program for three to five years and learn under one coaching staff before leaving for the NFL (outside of scenarios where players land in toxic situations at a program). 

The portal can exist as a way to supplement rosters while also serving as a developmental tool that isn't designed to be "plug-n-play". 

This simple move would change some roster building strategies for certain programs. But it would be worth it to bring some instant stability to a sport that seems to be moving at a thousand miles an hour in an unknown direction.