When Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said last summer at Big Ten media days he believes in a no-questions-asked, one-time transfer without the penalty of sitting out a year, it created a buzz and attached a high-profile coach to a topic that has generated considerable discussion.
He clearly had given the subject some thought. In the case of a second transfer, he said the year-in-residence rule requiring a player to sit a year, would be applied, and the graduate transfer rule, allowing a graduating player with eligibility to transfer freely, would be untouched.
Harbaugh’s one-time transfer approach would eliminate players filing waiver appeals, which can take enormous amounts of time for the student-athlete and their families, and would also relieve the NCAA from the extra burden of examining the growing number of appeals.