When Baker Mayfield transferred to Oklahoma from Texas Tech, former OU football coach Bob Stoops didn’t meet him until he was already on campus and enrolled in classes.

That transfer was disastrous for the Red Raiders but a boon for OU. At first, Texas Tech wanted Mayfield to lose a year of eligibility as punishment for transferring within the Big 12 Conference. This was an odd case because Mayfield was a walk-on at Texas Tech (and OU) and Tech had never officially offered him a scholarship even though he started several games as a true freshman.

Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy at OU and was the No. 1 pick (by the Cleveland Browns) in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Three years ago, Kyler Murray transferred to OU from Texas A&M and was forced to sit out a season due to transfer rules. That was good news for OU and bad news for the Aggies. Murray played behind Mayfield in 2017 and then started for the Sooners last year. He also won the Heisman Trophy and also was the No. 1 pick (by the Arizona Cardinals) in the 2019 NFL Draft.

This season, the presumed starter at quarterback for Oklahoma is Jalen Hurts, who graduated from Alabama with one year of football eligibility left. Thanks to the rule that graduates transfers can play right away, Hurts came to OU. Odds makers have him ranked third in the list of favorites for this year’s Heisman Trophy.

OU has had players transfer, too. Quarterback Austin Kendall graduated from OU in three years and has transferred to West Virginia where he will be eligible immediately and still have two years of eligibility.

Kendall is battling Josh Allison for the starting quarterback job. Allison is a former transfer from Miami to West Virginia.

There seems to be a rush of football players wanting to transfer to other schools. One reason is the recent creation of a “transfer portal” by the NCAA. It used to be called a “permission to contact” for college athletes in all sport.

According to the NCAA website, the portal gives students more control over their decision to transfer. It prohibits a school from blocking a transferring student from getting aid from his destination school. It streamlines the transfer process and it should facilitate the ethical contact of athletes and potential new coaches. It has sparked conversations among conference members on how transfers should be handled.

Once a player signs the transfer portal paperwork, a school can reduce or cut his or her scholarship aid at the end of a semester. And if an athlete enters the portal and decides not to transfer or can’t find a school to take them, the original school is not obligated to take them back. Plus, not following the portal rules could result in NCAA violations.

Some coaches like the transfer portal and some hate it.

“Anything that helps or favors athletes is for the good,” Texas football coach Tom Herman said during the spring teleconference. “I think we have not taken anyone yet from the portal. We have a transfer in from Georgia Tech.

“The only thing I can say is, if a kid wanted it and they felt it was necessary, great. It’s a little alarming at the rate that we are giving out the waivers for immediate eligibility but whatever is best for the student-athlete I think we are all in favor of.”

School loyalty might be one issue as transferring becomes easier. Some athletes may have better reasons to go to another school.

 “I think the ease of transfer is the only think I question,” said Coach Les Miles, the new football coach at Kansas. “I think there is a number of people that transferring not out of necessity. One of the last statistics I saw that 25 percent of all of college has put their name in for the transfer portal. And actually transferring were 13 percent. I don’t know that those are exactly the statistics.

“I just think it changes football so much. You learn allegiance, you learn an identity, you like your team and then, what the heck, for the last year I’ll take a flyer. Maybe it will be the last two years. I think there are quality reasons to transfer and certainly the senior who just graduated and looking for an opportunity – I see that as very likely a good reason. And if a young man had other extenuating circumstances, I think those things are looked. The ease of transfer, I think it’s wonderful for the player – I don’t know that it’s great for the coaches.”

One thorny issue is that players can apparently enter the portal without notifying their current coaching staff.

“I think we are all, in some sense, getting used to it,” OU coach Lincoln Riley said in the spring teleconference. “I think sometimes the effects of such a big change – it takes some time to maybe fully understand it. But I do think there are some positives with it.

“The one part about it that I still have a hard time with is that you don’t have to come tell your coach if you are going to get in it. Any job in the world, if you are going to leave or take another job, it’s the right thing to go tell the people that you work for. It’s just common respect.

“When you have those conversations, it’s part of the growing process to educate and help grow young men that we don’t put them in a position where they make grown-man choices and grown-man talks. That part to me is still a little perplexing but I think it’s done some good things for players. A lot of guys who want to transfer have that option and I think it is something that I hope will continue to evolve and tweak it and make it better for everybody.”

In any case, the transfer portal can stir debate. A flurry of transfers could really hurt a football team if it is unable to replace those players quickly.

“My feeling on it is religion, politics and the portal,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said during the spring teleconference. “I mean I don’t even think it’s worth commenting on because you are going to get such a mixed reaction from people across the country. And I don’t think anybody knew the direction when it was put in place.

“I think it’s a dangerous thing. I think there are a few things that are positive but I think the majority of it is danger and unless the NCAA changes the opportunity for coaches to manage roster numbers, based on the 85 scholarships that we have as it is right now, we can’t handle the roster changes. We can’t predict them. We can’t make up for them based on the way the rules are. They have failed to address and put in place ways for us to manage our roster based on the current portal situation.

“Honestly, this will probably be the last time I ever say anything or speak about it just because I don’t think it’s something that’s been thought through. And it’s a no-win situation either way.”