Everyone’s still figuring out how to act during the single transfer portal window that will run from today until January 16. Players are scheduling visits to their current schools, Tulsa’s doing a Hard Knocks/Real World combo in a rented house with a putting green and a half dozen Xboxes, and every recruiting reporter is breathlessly copying and pasting whatever message the uncertified agents send them.
Through transfers or graduation, Kennesaw State is set to lose the following from the championship team: Both QBs who started games this season, a diamond-in-the-rough RB tandem, the two most productive WRs, the tight end, four of five starting OL, six of the top 8 in the secondary, and three starting DL. That will scare Owls fans at first glance, but I think the overall state - and potential - of the roster going forward is in much better shape than you’d think given all the production to replace.
The sum of all the parts made KSU’s transition roster look like one that had been building toward a CUSA title for years, rather than one pieced together from the wreckage of a 2-10 team and an eclectic mix of under-the-radar transfer pickups on a below-market rev. share budget. I’m intrigued to see how the Owls operate with this many spots up for grabs after showing proof of concept on both sides of the ball and in the program-building sense. They’re building for the future rather than the survival mode of last winter, especially now that Mack signed an extension and the top G5 jobs are off the table for the foreseeable future.
As offers and visits start going public, this post will be my best effort to contextualize Kennesaw’s roster-building activity and take a look at player fit.
Obvious disclaimer: All of the guys who enter the portal could technically return, though the speed-dating nature of the short portal window means that Mack and GM Mike Kershaw can’t afford to wait around. They’ll move on to the next name on the big board, especially without a second transfer window to fix any glaring issues that show up during spring ball.
Let’s go build a roster.
