2024 college football transfer portal tracker: McClain leaving Colorado for Florida

Transfer season is in full swing in college football, again.

The spring transfer portal window officially opened on April 16, allowing players to move following spring ball or even during their team’s spring practices.

Which players are on the move this offseason, and which ones have already found a new home?

Let’s take a look at the stars and standouts who are testing the waters and transferring.

McClain was Coach Prime’s top high school signee last year, flipping to Colorado from Miami after Sanders was hired. The 6-foot-2, 165-pound freshman was a five-star recruit out of Lakeland, Florida, rated as the No. 2 overall prospect of 2023 in the 247Sports composite rankings. Last season, he made 13 tackles and had two pass breakups, starting four games and playing in nine.

Alabama S Peyton Woodyard to Oregon

Woodyard is a former four-star safety who signed with Alabama as part of the 2024 recruiting class, Nick Saban’s last with the Crimson Tide. Like several other high-profile members of Saban’s final classes, the former standout at St. John Bosco High School in Southern California left the program following the legendary head coach’s retirement in January. Woodyard was committed to Georgia at one point and also heavily recruited by Ohio State and hometown USC, but has since confirmed he will be playing for the Oregon Ducks next season.

Colorado RB Dylan Edwards to Kansas State

Edwards, a former four-star recruit, was the first notable high school recruit to flip his commitment to the Buffaloes after Deion Sanders took over Colorado’s program in Dec. 2022, thanks in large part to a long association with Sanders dating back to Edwards’ youth football days. Edwards then made a massive impression in his first college game, racking up 159 total yards of offense and scoring four touchdowns in Colorado’s dramatic 45-42 upset of TCU in Fort Worth. Although Edwards cooled off after that, he still led Colorado in rushing with 321 yards on the ground, and Sanders had praised him as a big part of the Buffaloes’ 2024 offensive plans.

Edwards, out of Derby, Kansas, now joins a promising home-state Kansas State program that won the Big 12 two years ago and carries a promising roster into 2024 led by former four-star quarterback Avery Johnson and bolstered by the addition of Edwards. Due to Colorado’s return to the Big 12, Edwards will return to Boulder to face “Coach Prime” and his former teammates on Oct. 12 next season.

Arizona State QB Jaden Rashada to Georgia

The Bulldogs are adding some talent to their quarterback room, landing Rashada, a four-star recruit in the Class of 2023 who opened last season as Arizona State’s starter. He threw for 485 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions before suffering a knee injury that ended his season after three games. With Carson Beck returning for the 2024 season, Rashada likely won’t see much action this upcoming season. However, he could position himself to become the starting quarterback for a Bulldogs team that’s turned into a perennial contender in the future.

Iowa QB Deacon Hill

Hill assumed starting QB duties for the Hawkeyes when high-profile transfer addition Cade McNamara tore his ACL in Iowa’s fifth game of the season. Hill struggled, however, as Iowa’s anemic offense under coordinator Brian Ferentz invited national scorn even as the Hawkeyes’ defense became one of the best in the entire nation, propelling Iowa to the Big Ten title game. Hill had 1,152 passing yards on a 48.6 completion rate, five touchdowns and eight interceptions last season.

Ohio State RB Dallan Hayden to Colorado

The rising junior is reportedly adding to the influx of transfer talent into Deion Sanders’ program at Colorado. Hayden, who rushed for 553 yards and five touchdowns in 2022, didn’t get many opportunities to produce in 2023, as he only had 19 carries. The Class of 2022 four-star recruit would’ve likely seen his number of carries dwindle further as Tre’Veyon Henderson returned to Columbus, while former Ole Miss star Quinshon Judkins transferred in earlier this offseason.

Miami RB Henry Parrish Jr. to Ole Miss

Parrish returns to the place he started his college career and gives head coach Lane Kiffin a needed veteran in his running back room after Quinshon Judkins transferred to Ohio State. Parrish ran for 819 yards and five touchdowns at Ole Miss from 2020-2021, then ran for 1,238 yards and 10 touchdowns at Miami from 2022-2023. Now, he’s back in Oxford for his final year of collegiate eligibility.

Florida State CB Greedy Vance Jr. to USC

Vance had three interceptions last season and bolstered a USC secondary that was one of the worst in college football last season, resulting in the departures of defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and cornerbacks coach Donte Williams. The Trojans’ defensive backs looked much improved under new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn in the team’s spring game, however, and now that group adds an experienced addition in Vance, who started five games for the Seminoles last season and had 71 tackles and defended 12 passes.

Pitt DE Dayon Hayes, Ohio DT Rayyan Buell and Texas OT Payton Kirkland to Colorado

Deion Sanders and Colorado have landed some trench help, getting commitments from three offensive and defensive linemen. Hayes is the most notable name of the group. He joins Colorado after leading Pitt in tackles for loss (10.5) last season, adding 45 total tackles, four sacks and six hurries. He was considered by some talent evaluators to be the best defensive end in the transfer portal at the time of his commitment, as he enters his fifth season of eligibility.

Buell was productive at Ohio over the last two seasons, recording 39 tackles and 6.5 sacks. Kirkland, meanwhile, was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2023.

Michigan State DT Simeon Barrow Jr.

Barrow started ten games for the Spartans last fall and has 30 career starts in East Lansing over three seasons.

Colorado CB Cormani McClain

McClain was one of the top overall prospects in the Class of 2023 and was a very late flip to Colorado shortly after Deion Sanders took over as head coach. McClain saw inconsistent playing time and even earned a public admonishment from Sanders over his practice habits during his freshman season, despite the Buffaloes’ limited defensive back depth.

However, McClain appeared to respond well to Sanders’ tough love and saw more game action as the season progressed and his playing improved, eventually earning four starts. That said, it appears McClain has decided to move on from Boulder, and given his elite five-star prospect profile coming out of high school, he’s likely to garner plenty of interest.

Oregon State RB Damien Martinez

Martinez is perhaps coming off the best season of everyone who entered their name into the transfer portal when it reopened. He was a key factor in Oregon State’s rise up the Pac-12 over the last two seasons, with 2,167 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 355 attempts since the beginning of 2023. Martinez initially decided to stay when head coach Jonathan Smith departed for Michigan State, but he will now enter the portal as one of the most proven players available.

Martinez is already reportedly set to visit several Power 5 schools including Arizona, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Kentucky and Miami (Fla.).