Last spring, Fountain-Fort Carson left tackle Lincoln Fa’apouli Jr. had five Division I scholarship offers, including one to play Power 5 football at Kansas.
Fast-forward to the end of his senior season, and Fa’apouli’s seen his scholarship pool dry up. Those Division I offers? Gone, he’s been told, because of the trickle-down consequences of the college transfer portal. Now, the 6-foot-5, 320-pounder who helped pave the way for one of Colorado’s top rushing attacks this fall is down to one Division II offer, from CSU-Pueblo.
“I did try to commit to a few of those (Division I) colleges recently, but I was halted by the words, ‘I’m sorry, all of our spots are taken because we’re taking a couple guys in from the transfer portal,’” Fa’apouli said. “I heard that more times than I’d like to admit. Even other Division I’s that were interested in me and had me on visits but hadn’t offered me yet — same thing. It was a business transaction to them. They put it bluntly to me, and wished me luck.”
Fa’apouli is Exhibit A of the effect the transfer portal is having on high school recruiting in Colorado. A half-decade ago, before hundreds of players populated the portal each December, Fa’apouli wouldn’t have had to compete with nearly as many current college athletes for scholarship offers.
But as high school coaches across Colorado lament, the portal has changed the game. Columbine’s Andy Lowry is not alone in his viewpoint that the portal “is killing high school recruiting.”
“It has seriously hurt high school recruiting, I think not only here in this state, but nationwide,” added fellow Class 5A state finalist Dave Logan of Cherry Creek. “I’ve had numerous college coaches tell me that the portal has changed the way they have to recruit. The elite, (blue-chip) high school player is not going to be impacted. But the very good high school player who, five years ago, would’ve gotten a Division I scholarship, those players have been severely impacted.
“We have hard-working, talented players who are not being recruited as they should be, or at least as they once were.”
The transfer portal opened Dec. 4, and there are currently more than 1,600 players in it, per the recruiting website On3. Coaches at all levels are looking there first, and to high schools second, to fill immediate needs on their 2024 rosters.
That’s especially the case in Colorado, traditionally seen as a flyover state when it comes to major Division I recruiting because of the lack of four- and five-star talent. But even Division II schools have changed their recruiting philosophy, Fountain-Fort Carson coach Jake Novotny explained, while also shrinking the timetables for recruits to make their decisions.
The win-now approach in college football is also fueling college coaches’ desire to get experienced players in the portal, as there’s less incentive than ever before to develop recruits who come in as freshmen. By the time they’re ready to contribute, a coach might be at the end of his leash.
And as Fa’apouli’s case demonstrates, waiting until late in a senior season to commit can be problematic because of how the opening of the transfer portal overlaps with the prime month for high school signings.
“Everything’s happening sooner now,” said Novotny, who coached in Division II prior to Fountain-Fort Carson. “It was trending that way with the early signing day period getting started (in 2017) … and the prevalence of the portal has also allowed the Division II, Division III and NAIA schools to be a little bit more picky, because there’s more talent out there (via the portal).”
In hindsight, Fa’apouli admits he “really should have committed earlier.”
“It’s my fault for waiting this long, but last spring I didn’t realize how big of an effect the transfer portal could have on my journey,” Fa’apouli said. “I honestly thought more offers would come in, and I would have more choices. Obviously, I was wrong.”
Like the rest of their peers, the state’s college programs have changed the way they recruit prep talent.
Under Deion Sanders’ “40-40-20” recruiting philosophy (40% graduate transfers, 40% undergraduate transfers and 20% high schoolers), CU’s de-emphasized recruiting Colorado preps.
CSU, which is also working the transfer portal to fill gaps under coach Jay Norvell, maintains a presence in Colorado high schools, but opportunities for in-state recruits have become more limited. Meanwhile, Division I FCS Northern Colorado has made a point to target many of the same recruits as Division II RMAC schools as the Bears attempt to rebuild their program after mustering just six wins over the past three seasons, including going 0-11 in 2023.
Even RMAC programs are looking heavily to the portal. Although, Colorado School of Mines, with stringent academic requirements and two straight appearances in the Division II national title game, is a notable exception.
“There’s particular RMAC schools who have come in and straight up told me they’re not interested in a particular position because they’re taking X amount of guys out of the portal for that,” Novotny said. “Whereas before, when I was recruiting at the Division II level, you’d go into a high school and want to talk to as many kids as you could.”
Columbine star running back Josh Snyder, the CHSAA Class 5A player of the year who stole the show at the state title game with three TDs, is among those under-recruited relative to the traditional norm for his prep accomplishments. Snyder has offers from Mines and other RMAC schools, and recently got his first Division I offer from Northern Colorado.
Lowry argues he would’ve been a clear FBS recruit five years ago, but the portal’s changed his fortunes.
“Josh Snyder is a lot like (CSU safety) Jack Howell from Valor Christian,” Lowry said. “Howell was a really good player as a freshman for CSU, and has been a star the last couple years. Josh reminds me so much of Jack — great athletes, really good football players who can play multiple positions, tough, fast — they can do so many things well.
“That’s what I told the CSU coaches, but they don’t have any spots available, even for a walk-on. Prior to a few years ago, I think Josh is probably in that category with Jack, but now with the portal, (colleges) can go poach an FCS kid who already has done it at the college level. Jack came in at the right time and was given an opportunity, where Josh is coming out at the wrong time, and he’s going to have to go a different route.”
The ripple effect of the portal is that it has shifted the level of play available to Colorado recruits who aren’t considered blue-chips.
Coaches at non-FBS programs understand how the rungs of the ladder have moved, and that’s become part of their pitch. Novotny called that shift “disheartening … and something that goes against every fiber of my being.” Nonetheless, he is now encouraging his players to adapt to the system in order to get next-level looks down the line.
“What’s hard for me as a high school coach is you go through four years of coaching a young man and harping on commitment, loyalty, investment, hard work, putting in your time to get playing time,” Novotny said. “Then all of a sudden you’ve got college coaches coming in and recruiting the kid and saying, ‘Hey, I know this isn’t Division I, but come play for me for a year, we will get you your tape and you can jump to Division I.’
“So now colleges, specifically Division II and FCS schools, even some Group of 5 schools, they’re not recruiting kids on, ‘Come be a part of our program.’ They’re recruiting them for the next school. It shouldn’t even be called ‘committing’ anymore. It’s more like, ‘Just sign on the dotted line and hope things work out.’”
Snyder, who plans to sign in February, is determined to see the bright side of the opportunity to play college football somewhere, even if it’s not the level Lowry thinks he should be at. Fa’apouli hopes the portal that negatively affected his recruiting trajectory can benefit him in a year or two.
“I’m just looking for a place to best provide me with a chance to play,” said Fa’apouli, who is hoping for a potential offer from Northern Colorado. “I hate to say it, but the thing that really ruined my prospects, the transfer portal, I may have to use it in the near future.”
And with the possibility of multiple-time transfers becoming the norm in college football going forward — currently, the NCAA’s rule against immediate eligibility for such transfers is tied up in a court battle — the recruiting prospects for Colorado high school players may only get slimmer.
“You’d like to be able to sit down and figure out what we can do to mitigate this,” Logan said. “But the answer, at least right now, is nothing.”
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