Think your team stinks? Mad at your coach? Unhappy with your playing time?
Get a move on. Transfer portal season is here.
A nearly monthlong window for undergraduate college football players to enter the transfer portal opens Dec. 4 and closes Jan. 2, with graduate transfers previously allowed to declare their intentions to explore leaving their current school.
The spring football transfer window runs from April 16-30.
Here’s a look at the players coming and going from USC and UCLA listed in most recent order of their announcements via social media and media reports, with the caveat that players listed as entering the portal can potentially stay at their current schools if they do not find another landing spot.
Who’s joining USC?
Size: 6-5, 280
Class in 2024: Graduate transfer
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: USC is trying to get bigger in the trenches under new coordinator D’Anton Lynn, so a 280-pound lineman can’t hurt. A three-star prospect out of high school, Clifton was one of the more coveted defensive lineman in the portal on account of the step forward he took last season. Clifton had 5.5 sacks as a senior at Vanderbilt after tallying just two combined in two seasons prior.
Who’s leaving UCLA?
Size: 6-1, 200
Year in 2024: Graduate transfer
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: Nimmo became UCLA’s first defensive player to enter the transfer portal, thinning depth at a position of need with the departures of Kenny Churchwell III and Jordan Anderson. He’s coming off his best season, having logged career highs in tackles (21) and tackles for loss (two) while appearing in all 12 games and starting against Arizona State.
Size: 6-6, 310
Class in 2024: Graduate transfer
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: Wiley is on the move for the second time in less than a year after having arrived from Colorado before last season. Unable to beat out fellow transfer Spencer Holstege or former Bruin reserve Josh Carlin for a starting spot, Wiley played off the bench for the entire season as part of an offensive line that struggled mightily to protect the quarterback. UCLA gave up 42 sacks, ranking No. 122 out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, but it also generated a rushing attack that produced 191 yards per game, ranking No. 21 in the nation.
Size: 6-3, 210
Class in 2024: Sophomore
Seasons of eligibility remaining: Three
Buzz: Moore went from wunderkind to maligned during his one season as Bruin, the former five-star high school prospect failing to live up to the massive hype. After throwing for seven touchdowns and only one interception through his first three games, Moore tallied eight interceptions and four touchdown passes the rest of the season. He was replaced as the starter by Ethan Garbers after a string of three consecutive games with a pick-six. A shaky offensive line that kept Moore on the run and some questionable play calls from his coach didn’t help develop the true freshman who may be headed to play much closer to his Detroit home.
Size: 5-10, 185
Class in 2024: Graduate student
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: This departure really hurts the Bruins because Jones was one of the team’s most dynamic players. He also seemed underutilized given his speed and excellent hands catching passes. The hybrid receiver-running back role was intended to help put him in a position to utilize those strengths, but he was rarely targeted and made only eight catches for 77 yards this season. Jones’ biggest impact came when he was handed the ball on two sweeps against Washington State and ran for a touchdown each time, helping UCLA rally for a 25-17 victory. He finished the season with 14 carries for 152 yards.
Size: 6-1, 190
Class in 2024: Graduate student
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: Even though he made eight starts, Brown’s role decreased in 2023 upon the arrival of several transfers and the emergence of Logan Loya as the team’s go-to receiver. Brown tallied 13 catches for 163 yards and a touchdown, just over half the 24 catches he made the previous season for 362 yards and three touchdowns. His next college will be his third after spending his first two seasons at Texas A&M.
Size: 6-4, 255
Class in 2024: Junior
Seasons of eligibility remaining: Two
Buzz: An increasingly valuable part of the offense, Ryan made 13 catches for 205 yards and three touchdowns. His 14-yard scoring reception against Arizona represented the Bruins’ only touchdown of the game.
Size: 6-1, 205
Year in 2024: Redshirt sophomore
Seasons of eligibility remaining: Three
Buzz: The most promising young player on UCLA’s defense, Ramsey started all 11 games in which he played and made 40 tackles, including 2.5 for loss. He also intercepted a pass against California. The loss of Ramsey alongside the departures of Kenny Churchwell III and Jordan Anderson to eligibility exhaustion and William Nimmo Jr. to the transfer portal will force the Bruins to rely heavily on the portal for replacements.
Who’s leaving USC?
Size: 6-0 200
Class in 2024: Senior
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: Jackson got off to a slow start this season because of injuries, but finished with 146 yards and one touchdown on 17 catches. The Las Vegas native struggled to break through in a crowded receiver room and battled small injuries that limited him to no more than nine games in a season, a career high he reached this year. He has 498 receiving yards and five touchdowns in his USC career and provides playmaking ability on punt return, where he filled in for Zachariah Branch this season when the freshman star was hurt.
Size: 6-1, 270
Class in 2024: Graduate transfer
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: A signing day flip from Washington State in 2019, Benton never carved out a significant role on USC’s defensive line. He had 12 tackles in 2023, including a career-best five tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, but didn’t see the field in the final two games against Oregon and UCLA after the dismissal of Alex Grinch.
Size: 6-2, 230
Class in 2024: Graduate transfer
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: When Thompson transferred from Auburn to USC in 2021, he had high hopes of helping turn around the Trojans’ defense under new coordinator Todd Orlando. But when USC’s staff turned over in 2022, Thompson never found his place in the Trojans’ plans under Alex Grinch. He moved from safety to linebacker and played only sparingly from there, even as USC struggled with depth at inside linebacker.
Size: 6-5, 240
Class in 2024: Graduate transfer
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: Slowed by back and foot injuries during his five-year career, the Bellflower St. John Bosco tight end had two catches for five yards and a touchdown in 2023 playing behind redshirt sophomore Lake McRee. His best season at USC was in 2021 when he appeared in 11 games with eight catches and 56 yards.
Size: 5-8, 185
Class in 2024: Redshirt sophomore
Seasons of eligibility remaining: Three
Buzz: It’s no surprise the former five-star prospect is hitting the transfer portal after taking an unexpected redshirt year. The former Mater Dei star provided flashes of brilliance as a freshman, but fell out of the rotation during his second year after a position switch from running back to receiver. He appeared in two games in 2023, catching three passes for 18 yards and running for one touchdown and 16 yards on three carries. As a freshman, Brown scored three rushing touchdowns, caught three touchdown passes and announced his arrival at USC by striking the Heisman pose in his first game against Rice.
Size: 6-0, 220
Class in 2024: Graduate transfer
Seasons of eligibility remaining: One
Buzz: The former Texas Christian transfer will look for his third college home after three seasons at USC. Barlow has been buried behind other transfer running backs both years with the Trojans, backing up Travis Dye and Austin Jones in 2022 and then playing behind MarShawn Lloyd and Jones in 2023. Barlow had eight carries for 81 yards and scored his one touchdown this season in a shootout against Washington when Lloyd was injured. Barlow, a Texas native, played two seasons at TCU, but has eligibility for a sixth season in college because of the pandemic.
Size: 6-1, 210
Class in 2024: Redshirt junior
Seasons of eligibility remaining: Two
Buzz: Gordon, a former four-star prospect, never really got it going at USC after being brought in by the previous staff. He didn’t factor in on the field this season. But at a position short on numbers, his departure leaves USC even more barren of depth in the defensive backfield.
Size: 6-2, 295
Class in 2024: Redshirt junior
Seasons of eligibility remaining: Two
Buzz: Sekona didn’t waste any time making his transfer intentions known, as word spread just one day after USC lost UCLA to end its season. As the Trojans retooled their defensive front, Sekona never really made his mark under Riley. He played only a bit part on USC’s defense, with one sack across two seasons.
Who’s coming to USC?
Size: 6-2, 210
Class in 2024: Senior
Seasons of eligibility remaining: Two
Buzz: Michigan State’s starting long snapper left the team after coach Mel Tucker was fired on Sept. 27. The midseason departure saved him a year of eligibility after starting as a freshman in all 13 of Michigan State’s games and playing five games as a sophomore before getting injured. The Trojans need a new long snapper to replace Jack Casasante, who has held the position for the last two seasons. Pepper was 247Sports’ No. 1 long snapper in his recruiting class.
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