We see it happen every year; a heralded prospect arrives on campus for training camp, he doesn't like his place on the depth chart, and the student-athlete decides to take his talents elsewhere after a season - sometimes longer, and sometimes much shorter. As each season comes and goes, it seems to happen with more regularity.
Why is this such an issue in college football today though? Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost was asked that after practice recently and provided an interesting answer.
"Kids are expecting too much too soon a lot of times." Frost explained.
"I think, with all the media that's around recruiting, kids think that they have to play their first year or they're a failure. A lot of kids, when it doesn't happen for them immediately, they want to find another place to play."
"You can name hundreds of thousands of great players who didn't play until their third or fourth year and still had the type of career that they wanted to have. I think the process of how things happen there just makes people more anxious to look for a different route, but most of the time, if you're patient and you stick it out, if you're a good player, good things are going to happen."
Many people don't realize this, but Frost was a transfer himself back in the day. He began his playing career at Stanford and decided to transfer to Nebraska in 1995 after two seasons with the Cardinal. The rest is history.
Interestingly enough, as a player, Frost played under Bill Walsh, Tom Osborne, Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, and Jon Gruden.