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It’s hard to believe that we are just three games away from the end of the 2024 college football season. The semifinals start on Thursday night. 

But my goodness, we are getting two monster games to decide who plays for a national championship on January 20th in Atlanta, Georgia. It all starts with Notre Dame versus Penn State in the Orange Bowl, then we get Ohio State and Texas in the Cotton Bowl, which could be a mess for fans traveling to Dallas this week. 

As for this week’s mailbag, we had a variety of questions from our readers about the upcoming college football playoff semifinals, Bill Belichick making visits to high school campuses and the never-ending saga of the transfer portal. 

So, I picked three questions that I thought summed up the entire mailbox this week. 

Let’s dive into the mailbag. 

Is Bill Belichick going all-in with high school recruiting for North Carolina? I’m a pessimistic person, so I am curious to hear your thoughts on if this will work? 

Adam – Charlotte, North Carolina

Hey Adam, appreciate the question. Trust me, it took a few looks on social media to wrap my brain around Bill Belichick stopping by a few high schools on Monday to visit with potential recruits for the Tar Heels. But, when he took the job at North Carolina, he would have to jump all-in, as you asked, when it came to high school recruiting. He seems to be putting together a staff that he’s comfortable with. He did not need to bring in a bunch of NFL coaches and think that guys with zero experience on the recruiting trail would actually get the job done.

There’s only so much the transfer portal can offer, so hitting the ground running when the contact period opened this week was going to be an adventure. Honestly, can you imagine Bill Belichick showing up at a local high school in the area to recruit a 17-year-old kid? 

How about Belichick joining X/Twitter this week? Something I didn’t expect to see in my lifetime. Now, I would imagine he’s not sitting around and tweeting on his own. That’s what he has a social media manager for. But this is going to be entertaining to watch, and I do think he’ll have success.

Make sure to email me any questions you might have to Trey.Wallace@OutKick.com, and I’ll certainly get back to you. 

Trey, what do you think of the matchups in the College Football Playoff? Do my Longhorns have a shot at beating this Ohio State team that looks like a juggernaut? 

Travis – Austin, Texas

Hey Travis, I am fascinated by what we’re going to see on Thursday and Friday night in the semifinals. As for your Texas Longhorns, this is going to be a massive test for the defense which Steve Sarkisian has relied on this season. There are times when Quinn Ewers scares the living hell out of me with his decision-making, and I would say Sarkisian thinks the same thing behind closed doors. 

But, if Texas is going to have success against Ohio State, they had better figure out a way to stop the Will Howard and Jeremiah Smith connection. You can’t just let Smith run free in open space, so they will need to make sure he’s clamped-down in the secondary. While this could work, the Buckeyes will have Emeka Egbuka with one-on-one coverage, if the Longhorns don’t have some type of bracket coverage. 

Yes, I think Texas can win this football game, but will need Quinn Ewers, along with the rushing attack, to be at its best. If this thing gets into a shootout, I’m curious to see how the Longhorns respond. Steve Sarkisian is already throwing out the ‘Us Against The World’ mentality, so let’s see how that works in the locker room. 

“Clearly, we’re massive underdogs. Nobody’s going to give us a shot. So we’re going to need all that help we can try to win this game.”

Make sure to email me any questions you might have to Trey.Wallace@OutKick.com, and I’ll certainly get back to you. 

Is the transfer portal sustainable right now in college athletics? I look at the number of players currently, and this feels like a problem with no answers. 

Clayton – Meridian, Mississippi 

Clayton, appreciate the question. I think we are only getting started with the madness, which has been a constant cause for concern over the past few years. There were over 2,700 players entering the portal in this cycle, according to reports. Where the heck are all these guys going to go? There’s not enough space for all these athletes who decided a new home would be best. Obviously, some of the higher-tier prospects are looking for a better financial situation, which I won’t blame them for, especially as we get closer to revenue sharing. 

But to act like we don’t have a problem with the current system is just stupid. The question now centers around what type of contracts these schools have players sign once revenue-sharing begins. I think you’re going to see more ‘buyouts’ for players looking to leave one school for another in the future. 

Lane Kiffin looks to reload in a crowded transfer portal

COLUMBIA, SC – OCTOBER 05: Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin complains to an official during the game between the Ole Miss Rebels and the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Much like you see in the coaching profession, either the player or the school they transfer to will have to pay some sort of financial penalty if they benefit from signing a player from another school. Could this become a thing in college athletics for the players? Possibly, and it would make sense. 

It’s not like a school can hold a player hostage, but there are ways to make this transactional moving forward. I’m not saying that could happen, but it’s an idea that has been floated. Also, this winter portal period doesn’t work, and it’s causing a lot of headaches for teams. We have to find a better time for players to enter the transfer portal, not during the college football playoff, which has been a hot topic these past few weeks. 

Alright, that’s going to do it for this week’s mailbag. Make sure to continue following our coverage of the college football playoff, as I will be in Dallas braving the elements before the Cotton Bowl to bring you the latest news. 

Make sure to email me any questions you might have to Trey.Wallace@OutKick.com, and I’ll certainly get back to you.