Fun Idea: There's a Completely Unsubstantiated Rumor Going Around Bowling Green That New Head Coach Eddie George Will Turn the Bowling Green Falcons Into A "Feeder Program" For Ohio State

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I cannot stress to you enough how unsubstantiated this rumor is. But I thought the idea was interesting enough, that even if it's completely false (which it very likely is) the topic is still worth exploring. This rumor was relayed to me by a professor at Bowling Green State University. That professor may or may not be a direct relative of mine. But I have it on good authority from this unnamed professor that there is at least one person at BGSU who's claiming this to be true. That Eddie George, given his connections to Ohio State, through the use of NIL and the transfer portal, is planning to turn Bowling Green into a feeder school for the Ohio State Buckeyes. An additional part of the rumor (which makes me even more skeptical), is that Urban Meyer will facilitate the relationship between the two schools. Again, when I hear this, I can't help but think that this rumor was created by a man who simply thought, "Eddie George is an Ohio State guy. Urban Meyer coached at both Ohio State and Bowling Green", then connected  dots in his own head and just started recklessly spreading his made up fantasy as if it were real news. But that's what a rumor is. And for what it's worth, Eddie George has offered Ryan Day's son, a high school quarterback at St. Francis De Salles in Columbus, Ohio, a scholarship to Bowling Green (not that he's short on offers).

Athlon Sports - Programs like Cincinnati, Northwestern, Iowa State, Purdue and UCLA are also showing interest. Day currently holds offers from Bowling Green, Boston College, Akron, Miami (Ohio), Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Marshall and Toledo.

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Regardless of this specific rumor, a Group of 5 program acting as a feeder school for a Power 4 program is a novel idea, that could potentially be the next evolution of the transfer portal in college football.

Obviously, "feeder school" could mean a lot of things. The most fun, most fantastical example would be that Ohio State recruits their QB of the future, and instead of sitting him on the bench for two years, he starts for Bowling Green until OSU's current starter has graduated, or left the program. Depending on how far they'd take things, it also implies that this hypothetical quarterback could be receiving money from Ohio State (or Ohio State boosters), while playing at Bowling Green. If two schools could actually manage to get on the same page and pull that off, it would be great for player development. Or at least WAY better than things are now where 4 & 5 star athletes are transferring after every season, trying to increase their pay every offseason, and hopefully catch lighting in a bottle with the perfect match. It would be objectively better for the career of a young player with NFL aspirations to play in one system his whole career. Imagine if the likes of Bowling Green and Ohio State could run the same, or similar offense/defense. If a quarterback could actually come into college football with a plan that allows him to play 4 years as a starter in the same system, starting in the MAC, getting some experience under his belt, then finishing in the B1G. On the surface, it sounds like a fantastic career path for a college football player.

That example is the extreme. Because when it comes down to it, if Ohio State has a QB in waiting, would they really want him playing MAC football for a year under a whole different coaching staff? When the alternative is having him practice with Ohio State, watch film with Ohio State, get coached up by Ohio State's way more qualified coaches for a couple of years? How much trust would Ohio State really have in Eddie George and Bowling Green? On the macro level, this idea makes sense. But when you start breaking it down and looking the specifics, there would have to be SO much trust between the two schools for something like that to ever work. I'd have to think it would takes years, maybe decades of working together for two programs to ever build up enough trust to be able to work with each other like a full-blown farm system.

But feeder school could also mean nothing more than Eddie George saying in a recruiting pitch, "I have connections at Ohio State. If you play well, I can help get you there." Or Ryan Day directing players who is willing to take a risk on yet to Bowling Green, under the impression that two years from now they'll get a second look from their dream school of Ohio State. Maybe that's all it is to start. Maybe that's all it ever would be. Just a way for the Ohio State's of the world to better keep tabs on, and loosely call "dibs" on potential transfer portal recruits they think could be worth something down the road. And for the Bowling Green's of the world, it would be a way to get some young talent in the door that they wouldn't be able to recruit otherwise. As a Bowling Green fan, if there's anyway whatsoever we can "attach" ourselves to Ohio State… well shit… go ahead and sign us up for that.

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It seems like this could be the natural progression of the transfer portal. Somewhere along the line things are going to have to change. At least I would hope so. Right now, college football is the Wild West. It's bad for the sport. It's bad for the teams. It's bad for player development. It's bad for everything except the player's bottom line. And in some cases, it might even be bad for that. Kids are making regrettable decisions left and right. And maybe college football is already too far gone in the new era for a symbiotic relationship like this to ever come to fruition. I mean, in the end, what's stopping an Ohio State recruit who starts at Bowling Green from transferring to Michigan instead, if Michigan offers him an extra couple million. What's stopping Ohio State from going back on their word to a kid they promised a spot for if a better recruit comes along. At the end of the day, teams and players alike are going to make the selfish decision. But something that resembles a feeder program-esque relationship could add a little bit of structure. And any sort of structure that can be added to the transfer portal would be good for the college football.

I really do think there's something here. Not necessarily with this Ohio State/Bowling Green rumor, but with the idea of schools working together in the transfer portal. With a little structure as there is right now, I'm not sure it could work. But over time, if college football ever works out the kinks and comes up with a way to bring a little stability back to the sport (like getting players to sign multi-year commitments), then we could start seeing relationships like this develop across college football. Personally, I think it'd be a welcome development into a world of complete chaos. Then again… I can also see a world where this just leads to more backstabbing, and even more chaos. So who knows. But I'd love to see someone give it a shot. Maybe Ohio State and Bowling Green will be the ones to do it. I can always hope.