OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

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OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

Three-year starter entering as a grad transfer:

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/vande ... er-portal/


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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by BrentVU »

A graduate transfer, but still a blow. He was debatably Vandy's best O-lineman this past season.

By my count that's 11 players from last year to hit the portal, and Steen is the fourth who was a starter for most of the year.
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by FayetteDore »

BrentVU wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:06 am A graduate transfer, but still a blow. He was debatably Vandy's best O-lineman this past season.

By my count that's 11 players from last year to hit the portal, and Steen is the fourth who was a starter for most of the year.
Yet, there remains a handful of people who say that this Brave New World -- with its high-speed transfer portals, 7-figure NIL deals (which combined make big-time college football even more entrepreneurial and anything-goes than NFL free agency and negotiated transfers) and constant conference expansion -- won't hurt Vanderbilt. :roll:

Magnolia League was way ahead of his time. More prescient than probably even he knew.
Last edited by FayetteDore on Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by baseball1234 »

Tough to lose a starter. It is tiresome that we have no transfers coming IN to the program. There have to be guys available that can get us to respectability. Can anyone argue that at the very least we need depth? I understand that we might not be the glamour spot for high profile guys, but are there not three or four players in the portal with game experience that could help? We need to improve in 2022. If we don't show moderate improvement next year, why would any high school recruit believe that things are changing?
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by vandy05 »

I still think its possible that the portal won't be harmful to Vanderbilt (NIL is a different story). We have equal opportunity to every other school to grab guys from the portal.

It was a common refrain here that CCL and staff would not be going to the portal (I still think folks made a whole meal out of a few bites on that). But a player announcing entry into the portal doesn't mean we are not going after players in the portal. There are guys all over the country making announcements about leaving, but many have not announced intentions of where they're going yet. I think its important to note that players and coaches are figuring out what the cycle of HS player recruitment and portal transfer acquisition should be.

I'm reserving judgment for a bit more time until we see exactly what they do.
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by dcdore »

Was talking football with a friend Sunday night, and as an aside he said there were 1300 players in the portal. I guess 1301 now :P
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by FayetteDore »

vandy05 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:31 pm I still think its possible that the portal won't be harmful to Vanderbilt (NIL is a different story). We have equal opportunity to every other school to grab guys from the portal.

It was a common refrain here that CCL and staff would not be going to the portal (I still think folks made a whole meal out of a few bites on that). But a player announcing entry into the portal doesn't mean we are not going after players in the portal. There are guys all over the country making announcements about leaving, but many have not announced intentions of where they're going yet. I think its important to note that players and coaches are figuring out what the cycle of HS player recruitment and portal transfer acquisition should be.

I'm reserving judgment for a bit more time until we see exactly what they do.
If it was just the portal, I'd agree with you. As I said above, it's the combination of the portal, easy and immediate transfer, AND the show-me-the-money NIL that hurts Vanderbilt.

Consider this observation by the lead writer on the Florida State Rivals fan board, Warchant.com:
But, if we're being pragmatic, if we're being honest with ourselves, what do we think is going to help FSU football more in the short term? Spending 80 million dollars to build a football field house? Or using those funds, through the unpoliced, unregulated terrain of NIL deals, in the player-acquisition department? Imagine the kind of roster you could put together with THAT kind of money? And, unlike in years past, it's perfectly legal now to shower players with deals and inducements once they sign with your school.

Maybe you see something at Kirkland Hall and McGugin Center that I don't, but I don't see "player acquisition" through "unpoliced, unregulated NIL deals" as the Vanderbilt Way.

Further, that easy transfer/NIL combination will help places like Georgia, where there's tremendous wealth in Atlanta and Augusta, et al, compared to Tennessee or Mississippi or Arkansas or even Alabama. A friend tells me that Atlanta is full of billboards with advertising for lawyers and others featuring UGA players in them, through NIL. And you remember the story in December about UTexas boosters raising NIL money to guarantee linesmen in Burnt Orange a minimum $50,000 per year, so they don't feel left out.

Or, as VU Law grad Fred Thompson famously put it: This business will....
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by alathIN »

I don't think VU fans have been saying unrestricted transfer will be good for Vanderbilt. The pro-transfer stance I see here (and happen to agree with) is that it's difficult to justify restrictions on transferring when college football is clearly a professional entertainment business. If a competitor organization makes me a better offer, I can take it. It's called a free market and it's one of the foundational principles of our nation.
Just like any other industry, the rich and powerful are in the best position to get richer and more powerful. No matter what rules they chose to keep or change, Alabama and Georgia are more likely to work it to their advantage than Vanderbilt.
I'm not saying I like any of this, or that it will benefit VU. I'm saying that we live in a free country and generally one needs a good excuse to restrict the freedoms of others. "This isn't beneficial to Vanderbilt" will not qualify as a good excuse in most situations.
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by vujoe »

With 1301 in transfer portal surely there a few good men for VU.
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by Seadog73 »

I can't help but wonder if (1) grad transfers OUT of VU and (2) the lack of grad transfers IN to VU are a result of the difficulty of getting accepted to VU grad programs. I am pretty confident that as difficult as it is for undergraduate admissions at VU, graduate admissions are even more restrictive.
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

Seadog73 wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 5:59 am I can't help but wonder if (1) grad transfers OUT of VU and (2) the lack of grad transfers IN to VU are a result of the difficulty of getting accepted to VU grad programs. I am pretty confident that as difficult as it is for undergraduate admissions at VU, graduate admissions are even more restrictive.
In a post I wrote last month, I noted that grad transfers are a double-edged conundrum for Vandy. On the one hand, VU's graduate programs are typically small and difficult to gain admission. It's worth noting that CDM had a few grad transfers, and I think most of them were Ivy League graduates. On the other hand, VU usually recruits bright undergraduate student-athletes who graduate in four years or less, often before their athletic eligibility is exhausted. (Particularly with the extra year of eligibility granted due to the pandemic.) It's unlikely many of them are going to stick around Vandy for grad school if they want to keep playing.

I think Vandy's much greater opportunity is with undergraduate transfers, who are going to be easier to admit. There will continue to be a few grad transfer opportunities--Joseph Bulovas and Liam Robbins in men's hoops are two that come immediately to mind--but they are going to be few and far between. And of course, it depends on the preference of the coach. Neither CBD or CJS had any problem with undergraduate transfers in hoops, and CDM pulled in a few even before the rule was changed to allow for immediate eligibility.
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by vandy05 »

FayetteDore wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:54 pm
vandy05 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:31 pm I still think its possible that the portal won't be harmful to Vanderbilt (NIL is a different story). We have equal opportunity to every other school to grab guys from the portal.

It was a common refrain here that CCL and staff would not be going to the portal (I still think folks made a whole meal out of a few bites on that). But a player announcing entry into the portal doesn't mean we are not going after players in the portal. There are guys all over the country making announcements about leaving, but many have not announced intentions of where they're going yet. I think its important to note that players and coaches are figuring out what the cycle of HS player recruitment and portal transfer acquisition should be.

I'm reserving judgment for a bit more time until we see exactly what they do.
If it was just the portal, I'd agree with you. As I said above, it's the combination of the portal, easy and immediate transfer, AND the show-me-the-money NIL that hurts Vanderbilt.

Consider this observation by the lead writer on the Florida State Rivals fan board, Warchant.com:
But, if we're being pragmatic, if we're being honest with ourselves, what do we think is going to help FSU football more in the short term? Spending 80 million dollars to build a football field house? Or using those funds, through the unpoliced, unregulated terrain of NIL deals, in the player-acquisition department? Imagine the kind of roster you could put together with THAT kind of money? And, unlike in years past, it's perfectly legal now to shower players with deals and inducements once they sign with your school.

Maybe you see something at Kirkland Hall and McGugin Center that I don't, but I don't see "player acquisition" through "unpoliced, unregulated NIL deals" as the Vanderbilt Way.

Further, that easy transfer/NIL combination will help places like Georgia, where there's tremendous wealth in Atlanta and Augusta, et al, compared to Tennessee or Mississippi or Arkansas or even Alabama. A friend tells me that Atlanta is full of billboards with advertising for lawyers and others featuring UGA players in them, through NIL. And you remember the story in December about UTexas boosters raising NIL money to guarantee linesmen in Burnt Orange a minimum $50,000 per year, so they don't feel left out.

Or, as VU Law grad Fred Thompson famously put it: This business will....
You and I are saying the same thing. The portal is something we can navigate. Its another variable in the equation, but its another variable in the equation that everyone has to navigate just like we do. If a kid isn't happy with their playing time (that's usually the case) then they're going to leave. You then have to be good at getting those kids, but that is essentially recruiting.

I was saying that the NIL puts us in a precarious position. Our alums are not likely to spend the necessary dollars to attract players in this brave new world. It will be doubly tough to keep up.
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by VandyPhile »

Maybe our alumni just aren’t in the habit of paying for players.
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Re: OL Tyler Steen reportedly entering the transfer portal

Post by FayetteDore »

Wonder how long it will be before players are able to start listing their NIL demands on the portal, and a bidding function added?

Now THERE'S a free market!
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