Update (2:40 p.m.): McCoy's now signed a financial aid agreement with Texas, Horns247 reports. USC five-star early enrollee Bru McCoy entered the transfer portal Thursday afternoon, 247Sports reported. Rated as the No. 9 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite for the 2019 class, McCoy is one of the more unique prospects of a generation. He’ll play receiver in college, but his pass rushing potential has been compared to players like Von Miller. McCoy’s decision to transfer comes on the heels of Kliff Kingsbury leaving the Trojans as offensive coordinator a little over a month after officially taking the job. USC granted McCoy a release from his LOI and McCoy will surely appeal with the NCAA for immediate eligibility through a waiver, much in the way Tate Martell will do so at Miami. This decision, made shortly after enrolling at USC, is a momentous one. Not only does this affect recruiting and roster management, but this builds on a mounting narrative of dysfunction at USC while personifying issues with the NCAA’s transfer system. The shockwaves of McCoy’s choice will reverberate in multiple ways. We explore those below: What This Means For USC McCoy opting away from USC at the cost of a year of eligibility is a massive blow to the Trojans’ 2019 class and the perception of the program. A California native who grew up rooting for USC, McCoy should’ve been a lock when it came to staying home. That McCoy would opt out of USC so early in his Trojan tenure raises a lot of questions about the program. Kingsbury's departure played a large role in how this occurred – and we’ll get there – but mostly McCoy’s exit signifies how shaky Clay Helton’s hold on the Trojans has become. McCoy, just a few weeks removed from his commitment, decided it’d be in his best interest to transfer away, potentially costing himself a year of eligibility in doing so. That does not speak well to the perception of USC, especially when you consider this player grew up with a favorable impression of the Trojans. USC will be fine at receiver next season. Fellow five-star Kyle Ford joins an already elite group on campus. But McCoy's departure impacts much more than the Trojans' on-field product. It’s an indictment of the program’s current lackluster status. NCAA's Transfer Policy Takes Another Dent We’ve seen a shift toward player agency in the transfer process with the implementation of the transfer portal. While it’s far from an ideal solution, the portal does give a player the right to explore transferring and to talk with any school – regardless of conference affiliation. Beforehand, they needed permission from their school to contact anyone. At the same time, McCoy’s situation is a shining example of the flaws that come with the transfer process. McCoy wanted to play for Kingsbury. He would’ve thrived in that offense, a wide-open passing attack that puts the ball in the hands of its playmakers. But just an hour or two after committing to USC on national television, McCoy found out Kingsbury had taken an NFL head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals. 247Sports, which was on hand for McCoy’s reaction, saw the shock in McCoy’s face. But as an early enrollee who’d signed his paperwork prior to the announcement, McCoy was stuck. He’d been promised tutelage under a certain coach, and less than 24 hours later that coach was living in Arizona. This is yet another example of the transfer process harming student athletes. McCoy, who will now likely need to sit a year due to NCAA transfer policy, would’ve probably made a different decision had he been given all the information. And while Kingsbury is free to pursue millions on the NFL level, McCoy could well wallow as a redshirt freshman without the opportunity to play. This is despite the fact McCoy could help almost any program from the jump. Isn’t there something wrong with that picture? The NCAA needs to adopt some sort of common-sense policy that would allow players who signed to at least freely explore other options without penalty if their coach leaves within a certain time period of their signing. This rings especially important considering the amount of coaching movement that occurs after the Early Signing Period. It’s the right thing to do. Expect situations like McCoy’s to continue a drumbeat for change that’s already swirling in college athletics. What McCoy Means For Texas The simplest discussion point with this scenario is Texas. McCoy will fit into a role similar to what Lil’Jordan Humphrey had last year. McCoy, shifty in the open field with a powerful frame (6-foot-3, 212 pounds), does a lot of the same things that made Humphrey a devastating slot weapon despite a body type that belies (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) a different skillset. And while McCoy lacks polish at either of his two potential positions – he played quarterback until eighth grade – his athletic traits project him as a potential star no matter where he lines up. Given a year in Texas’ strength and conditioning program, something McCoy’s never had in high school due to injuries, McCoy will emerge as a physical freak wherever his body takes him. Adding McCoy to the 2019 class would also elevate the Longhorns’ haul to an elite level. Texas would jump from fifth to third in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings, according to 247Sports’ Class Calculator.<doc-sep>247sports.com Bru McCoy, a 5-star athlete who signed a letter of intent on Jan. 6 to play with USC, reportedly will instead transfer to Texas. Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel reported Friday that McCoy will start taking classes at Texas next week after being admitted to the school and signing a financial aid agreement. Per 247Sports, McCoy had 25 offers and made visits to USC, Texas, Alabama and Washington. He chose USC but entered the NCAA transfer portal on Jan. 24. Chris Swanson of usc247.com offered reported rationale behind McCoy's decision-making: "McCoy was all set to commit to Texas before the 2019 All-American Bowl but was convinced to commit to USC by former Trojan offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury at the last minute. After Kingsbury was hired away to be the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, McCoy apparently soured on the idea of wearing cardinal and gold." Kingsbury signed a deal with the Arizona Cardinals just two days after McCoy signed a letter of intent with the Trojans. Ranked as the ninth-best overall prospect in the class of 2019 by 247Sports' composite rankings, the 6'2", 205-pound McCoy should make an instant impact for the Longhorns. He starred at linebacker and wideout in high school, but it remains to be seen what he would do on the collegiate level. Ultimately, McCoy is a huge steal for Texas given his versatility and potential. The question is whether McCoy has to sit a year due to NCAA transfer rules. He can petition the NCAA to let him play in 2019, per Gerard Martinez of 247Sports: Video Play Button Videos you might like However, there's no guarantee he'll win the petition. If he doesn't, Texas will have to wait until 2020 to see him suit up. If McCoy does win and plays starting in 2019, he'll join and up-and-coming Texas team that just beat No. 5 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and finished No. 9 in the Associated Press poll. If he plays wideout, then he'll join a talented offense that includes quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who have may have hinted at his happiness regarding the McCoy news: Ehlinger threw 25 touchdown passes and completed 64.7 percent of his passes last season en route to leading Texas to a 10-win season. Second-leading rusher Keaontay Ingram, No. 2 wideout Collin Johnson and No. 3 wide receiver Devin Duvernay will also be back. No. 1 pass-catcher Lil'Jordan Humphrey will not, but McCoy can help fill that void.<doc-sep>College football has seemingly been taken over by transfer portal talk this offseason. Players like Kelly Bryant, Tate Martell and Jalen Hurts have driven up interest by entering into the portal before landing at new schools for next season. USC's Bru McCoy, however, is taking it to the next level. The five-star wide receiver has made waves by hitting the transfer portal, despite never having played a snap as an early enrollee from the 2019 recruiting class. It's not hard to figure out why, of course. Kliff Kingsbury had a remarkably brief stint with USC as the team's offensive coordinator before taking the Arizona Cardinals head coaching job. It's obviously not a situation a player wants to find himself in, so McCoy is trying to nip it in the bud. McCoy was one of the few wins USC had in recruiting this season. The next step, of course, is to potentially transfer and then seek out a waiver from the NCAA so he wouldn't have to miss a year. That last part is up in the air, but the NCAA has been a bit more malleable as far as waivers go. On Friday's "Off the Bench," Danny Kanell and Raja Bell talk about McCoy's potential transfer and what it could mean that players are transferring so early. They talk about how the portal has impacted college football, and they add that we shouldn't expect McCoy's transfer to be the end of it. Listen and Subscribe to Off The Bench with Kanell & Bell: iTunes | Stitcher | TuneIn<doc-sep>
Bru McCoy might be ready to pick up that Texas Longhorns hat after all. Early this month, McCoy committed to the USC Trojans over Texas in a ceremony at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, leaving the burnt orange hat neglected on the table. But days after McCoy enrolled as USC, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury left to take the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals. As a result, McCoy entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal on Thursday afternoon. So what’s next for McCoy? Schools like Texas are now free to contact McCoy and the Longhorns are the expected landing spot if the former consensus five-star prospect decides to leave Los Angeles. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger certainly seems to know something: The looming issue is the National Letter of Intent that McCoy signed in December — the penalty for a player not completing their freshman season at the institution that received that NLI is losing one season of eligibility and not being able to compete for one year. To receive a release from the NLI, McCoy needs to submit an NLI release request to the USC athletic department and the NCAA Eligibility Center. After receiving the release request, the Trojans athletic director and director of compliance would have 30 days to render the NLI release decision. In that scenario, if USC decides not to grant the release, the McCoy family would have the option of appealing the decision to the NLI Committee. Texas has actually been in this position before — in 2016, numerous Baylor signees requested their release from the institution in the wake of the sexual assault scandal that resulted in the termination of head coach Art Briles, among others. Wide receiver Devin Duvernay, now set to enter his senior season at Texas, never had his paperwork submitted to the Big 12 office, so his NLI was deemed invalid. Other Baylor players, like his twin brother Donovan, had to wait until Baylor officially released them from their NLIs. In all, four former Bears signees joined the Longhorns program and were eligible for the 2016 season — the Duvernay brothers, offensive guard Patrick Hudson, and offensive tackle JP Urquidez. Given the circumstances of the scandal that engulfed Baylor, releasing those players from the NLIs seemed like a clear-cut decision. USC would likely receive some negative publicity by declining to release McCoy from his NLI due to the departure of an assistant coach, but it is a different situation and the appeals process could take some time if it comes to that. If McCoy does leave USC and come to Texas, he has a window to enroll for classes during the spring semester. Friday is the fourth class day and the end of the official add/drop period. It’s the last day that undergraduate students can register with the approval of the registrar. The 12th class day falls on Feb. 6 — National Signing Day, coincidentally enough — and that’s the last day that an undergraduate student can add a class except for rare and extenuating circumstances. So look for this story to develop quickly in regards to whether McCoy enrolls at Texas, though it may take longer for USC to make a decision about whether to release him from his NLI. Update (Thursday 8:36 p.m. Central): My apologies here, folks — since McCoy enrolled at USC and was therefore considered a student athlete, he’ll have to petition the NCAA for a hardship waiver, which seems extremely unlikely. And does help explain this tweet: