THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: The transfer portal, NIL and Vandal football

Jason Eck doesn’t take it personally.

He understands the current state of college athletics, and is doing his best to adapt.

After Idaho qualified for the FCS playoffs last fall for the second straight year, and advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1993, the Vandals were hit hard in the transfer portal, with several key players opting to leave.

“You can be disappointed sometimes, and every kid has a little different reason for leaving,” said Eck, preparing for his third season as Idaho football coach, in a recent chat with The Press. “We had nine scholarship players that went into the portal after the season. Eight of those guys, we’d have liked to have back, one of them was a good fit mutually, going to a Division II school, just to get more playing time.

“Five of those eight guys are getting pretty significant money (from name, image and likeness); they’re making more money than most of our assistant coaches are making.”

OK, THEN.

So as much as Vandal fans may have wished guys like quarterback Gevani McCoy (signed with Oregon State) and running back Anthony Woods (Utah) had stuck around in Moscow for their remaining two years of eligibility, can you blame them for leaving?

Ditto some of the others, including defensive backs Marcus Harris (California), Ormanie Arnold (Cincinnati) and Murvin Kenion III (Sacramento State), wide receiver Terez Traynor (Tulane), offensive lineman Tigana Cisse (Ohio) and linebacker Xe’ree Alexander (Central Florida).

“I go back to, why do people go to college?” Eck said. “You go to get a job, provide for your family and make a living, so for them to be able to have that opportunity before they get their degree, it’s tough to argue. It’s no different than guys going pro. And three of those five probably didn’t have great prototypical size for the NFL. So I would never say those guys could never be NFL players, but they are probably guys who are not going to be drafted, and have to be free agents. So this might be their chance to make some money on football.

“We had three other guys who left who didn’t get significant money, so I don’t know … “ Eck said. “Maybe some of those guys were not happy with their role … we wish them well, but the grass isn’t always going to be greener when you go somewhere else.”

So the recruiting continues with the player, even after the coaching staff has already recruited the player to the school.

You just have to accept it and evolve. It’s different. I think college football has changed a lot in a few years, and I think it’s going to keep changing a lot in the next few years. But college football’s still great; I think we’re firmly the No. 2 sport in the country behind the NFL. …I think college football can keep being great; it’s just going to be a little different.

“There’s another (transfer) portal window that starts up again at the end of April, so we have to keep doing a great job of working on relationships,” Eck said. “We have to make sure we’re selling our players, we’re getting them better, we’re developing them, and we’re doing the best things to set them up for their future.”

OF THOSE Vandals who are eligible for the NFL draft, star receiver Hayden Hatten is the only one who could have returned — he missed most of the 2021 season due to injury, so would have qualified for a medical redshirt.

“We would have loved to have him back, but we also understand,” Eck said. “He had already gotten his degree, and his brother (Hogan) was moving on, his girlfriend’s graduating. Hayden’s going to be wildly successful. Hayden’s going to be a millionaire, whether it’s playing football, or whether it’s in business … he’s just got that kind of personality. He’s competitive, and he’s a winner. 

“Hayden probably had the most NIL deals of anyone on the team last year. We’re talking lower five figures, not six figures like some of the guys were leaving for. He was able to do some things.”

NIL isn’t going away, Eck said, so “it’s something we can’t bury our heads in the sand about.”

The top two programs in recent years in FCS, North Dakota State and South Dakota State, have both formed collectives, to help with name, image and likeness for their players. 

Idaho does not — but might need to to compete with those schools.

“I strongly encourage more of our (boosters) to get involved in that, because I think that can make a difference toward winning a national championship, versus being happy having a winning record and going to the playoffs,” Eck said.

Talk of NIL money has not been much of a factor in recruiting at Idaho … yet.

“To me, it’s more of a retention issue, and it’s maybe only a retention issue for maybe our best 10 or so players who are coming back,” Eck said.

“You look at what some of the bigger schools are doing. Utah, all 85 players on scholarship are getting a truck lease. I don’t see that ever being across the board … but I do think for our top performers, you’d love to see them get something that goes on top of their scholarship, just to help them be more comfortable, help their family get to more games.”

Eck said he hopes it doesn’t eventually evolve into, say, Idaho, Montana and Montana State in bidding wars for players.

“In some ways, that’s probably what the SEC is like right now, so I hope that doesn’t trickle down to our level,” he said. “But it’s tough to say it won’t.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.