When is the next college football transfer portal window?

College football players are going to have to wait a minute before hitting the portal again.

With spring practices right around the corner, college football players will soon embark on major position battles of note.

Spring practice is undeniably crucial for any program. Teams are allotted 15 practices during the spring semester to hopefully get better. It is why high school prospects enrolling a semester early has become all the rage in recent years. However, not every wide-eyed former high school star will get the reps and opportunities he wants after spring practice. When does the portal open back up?

The NCAA has implemented a pair of transfer portal windows with one right after spring practice.

College football: When does the transfer portal window open up again?

While the larger 45-day window opens up after the regular season ends on Dec. 8 and then closes again on Jan. 18, a 15-day window is available in the first half of May. The portal will open back up again on May 1 and will close 15 days later on May 15. This 15-day window will allow every program to have conducted spring practice, as well as for the academic term to be winding down.

The first window is larger for two reasons: Bowl season and coaching changes. Should a team make a change at the helm or somebody’s head coach leaves for another job, the player has every right to enter the portal to see what is out there. Of course, kids get lost in the portal around this time because Early National Signing Day can result in rescinded scholarships being gobbled up.

The second transfer window is all about players either not gelling with their new head coach or them not winning a job heading into fall camp. It is one-third the size of the larger window because there is not a lot of time between the end of the spring semester and when summer classes start for football players to be back on campus, possibly at a new school, to get to work.

While the transfer portal is closed for the next few months, it will open back up again in early May.

For more College Football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.