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Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has introduced a bill to reduce the frequency of college athletes transferring in this current NIL era.
During a hearing last week, Tuberville — who previously coached college football at Auburn — argued that the current state of college sports is not sustainable. With athletes now able to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL), the NCAA has seen a drastic increase in the number of athletes hitting the transfer portal. Many student-athletes enter the portal in hopes of getting more lucrative offers from other schools.
Previously, athletes were required to sit out for an entire year if they transferred. With that no longer being the case, they’re free to bounce around from school to school.
This, Tuberville claimed, could spell doom for college sports. He said:
This bill that I’m putting out is a basic idea. It’s going to cause problems with somebody, but at the end of the day, we got to start somewhere, folks, or we’re gonna lose it. We’re gonna lose Olympic sports, we’re gonna lose women’s sports, because there’s not gonna be any money. It’s gonna be club sports. I got news for y’all: it’s coming. The money is not gonna be there. You can forget about Title IX. You can have all the lawsuits you want. If the money’s not there, it’s not there. Money is gonna go to athletes that get on television.
So student-athletes, to me, should have a five-year window. You start, you got five years. I’m sick of these 28-, 29-year-olds playing in a young person’s sport and taking your money. I’m sick of that. Five years to play, no waivers, no excuses. Once you start, you go five years. At the end of that five years, you go and do whatever you need to do the rest of your life.
My NIL bill is simple.
You get five consecutive years to play five seasons with one free transfer. If you choose to transfer again, you sit out a year.
Proud to be leading the charge to SAVE COLLEGE SPORTS. pic.twitter.com/vcNeXcDMfI
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) March 29, 2026
The issue has come under more intense scrutiny in recent weeks due to the case of Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. The 23-year-old sued the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility.
On Friday, a judge denied the NCAA’s permission to appeal a ruling granting him that eligibility. As noted in a report from ESPN, Chambliss is likely to play next season while the case remains ongoing.
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