The collegiate transfer portal expanded three years after its creation when the NCAA removed the one-year penalty for a one-time transfer — creating an influx of player movement.
The rule change has allowed teams to quickly revamp each year. But that hasn’t happened for Maryland football this season.
“The hardest adjustment was just a new system, new expectations,” said defensive end Donnell Brown, who transferred from FCS level St. Francis. “New teaching, in a way.”
The Terps added nine transfers this offseason after losing 11 starters. Few of those additions have played well this year.
Their struggles have especially hurt Maryland considering each transfer plays at a position of need. The Terps’ recruits came on the offensive line and in the secondary, the team’s biggest weaknesses this season.
“We’ve got five new guys up front. We’ve got two new starters, all four of the two deep guys are new at the corner position,” coach Michael Locksley said. “They’re weathering some storms.”
The majority of Maryland’s starting offensive line was built through the portal, including center Josh Kaltenberger, tackle Alan Herron and guard Aliou Bah. That unit has allowed 68 pressures, the third-most in the Big Ten, and Herron and Kaltenberger have each given up multiple sacks.
[Maryland football’s loss to Northwestern was another blow in a poor season]
The offensive line hasn’t blocked well in the running game, either. The Terps’ average of 3.6 yards per carry is 92nd-worst in the country.
“Our offensive line is a work in progress,” Locksley said.
None of Maryland’s three transfer additions to its offensive line entered this year with dependable Division I experience. Kaltenberger didn’t start consistently at Purdue, Bah rarely saw the field at Georgia and Herron transferred from Division II Shorter, an untraditional leap to a Big Ten program.
Jalen Huskey came to the Terps with more experience than any of the offensive line additions. The top defensive transfer was a first team All-Mid American Conference selection at Bowling Green and led the Falcons in interceptions and pass breakups last season.
Huskey was set to fill a void former Maryland cornerbacks Tarheeb Still and Ja’Quan Sheppard, who both departed to the NFL.But that hasn’t transpired through seven weeks.
The transfer has been benched at cornerback, playing his second-lowest snap count of the season against Northwestern.
He’s also allowed two touchdowns and 10 receptions with an average yard per catch of 14.9, according to Pro Football Focus.
Locksley said Sheppard, who transferred to Maryland from Cincinnati two offseasons ago, had the benefit of playing next to Still, who was a starter since his freshman season. Huskey has played alongside many inexperienced teammates.
[Maryland football falls to Northwestern, 37-10, gets off to worst Big Ten start since 2015]
Huskey’s benching at cornerback has resulted in a move to safety, despite the Terps desperately needing an outside cornerback to cure their coverage woes. Unlike Sheppard, Huskey hasn’t been a prudent transfer addition.
“He’s also a first-time player in our system,” Locksley said. “It takes a little time.”
The transfer portal has done more harm than good for the Terps. They’ve lost 63 players to the portal over the past three years, including Jaishawn Barham and Chop Robinson, who both left College Park for other Big Ten schools.
Barham has contributed for Michigan this season one year after it won the national championship. Robinson was a first team All-Big Ten selection at Penn State and a first-round NFL draft pick.
Maryland has picked up strong pieces, including Taulia Tagovailoa from Alabama, who was the program’s greatest quarterback, statistically. Sheppard also played well at points last season and Kaden Prather has been a reliable weapon after two seasons at West Virginia.
But in a season when the Terps needed all the roster help they could get, they were unsuccessful in the transfer portal. They sit near the bottom of the Big Ten standings because of it.
