The 30-day transfer portal window officially opened on Monday, and over 1,000 college football players entered their name, which is the most in a single day in the new era of college athletics.

Eight of those transfer portal players are from No. 12 Oklahoma, the 14th-ranked Arizona Wildcats鈥� upcoming opponent in the Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. Among them, two-year starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who is eighth all-time in career passing yards. Gabriel will be replaced by former five-star quarterback and freshman Jackson Arnold.

Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch addressed the transfer portal 鈥� and its flaws 鈥� during his news conference. Here鈥檚 what Fisch said:

With the transfer portal opening on Monday, how do you approach that?

A: 鈥淚n regards to players that have gone into the portal from other programs, there鈥檚 certainly been some people I鈥檝e had to evaluate and make decisions on. You have to make very fast decisions. In recruiting, you can make long decisions. You might know them when they鈥檙e a sophomore in high school, a freshman in high school, a junior in high school. Here now you have a decision you need to make if you want to use one of your spots on a guy that you evaluated for seven minutes. Things are very, very different in that regard. You then have to start doing research, but while you鈥檙e doing research, another team is trying to get him. So it鈥檚 a more challenging deal for a head coach. There鈥檚 a couple meetings here or there. I haven鈥檛 had any with our own roster.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have to do that, but a year ago we did. But there鈥檚 always going to be people trying to take your players, so you have to avoid that and make sure that these players understand their value to this program. ... If you just go down the list of guys that played that were a part of that class of 2022, there should be an ESPN 鈥�30 for 30鈥� (documentary) done about it. If we all stay together and the amount of games that I think they can win this year and next will be a story of college football.鈥�

What is your strategy when scouting players in the transfer portal?

A: 鈥淲hen you look at the portal, the first thing you have to do is 鈥� if someone is bringing them to me, it鈥檚 (because) they have a prior relationship. If we don鈥檛 know anything about them, I鈥檓 not interested. We just can鈥檛 do it. So now it鈥檚 a matter of, 鈥楢lright, well, let鈥檚 turn on his film, let鈥檚 look at his production, let鈥檚 find out the background of how many years he has left. Is he coming in as a (graduate) transfer or is he coming in as a one-time transfer, undergrad transfer? Are there any things that we need to know?鈥�

鈥淭hen we turn the film on, watch the film and we see, 鈥榃here does this person fit in?鈥� And then I ask our position coaches and our recruiting department to inform me on, 鈥榃here do you see this player playing on our team? Are we bringing him in to add depth or are we bringing him in here to start?鈥� To pass the start test with me is a very hard test. It鈥檚 one thing to say, 鈥楬ey we鈥檙e bringing in Jayden de Laura to start.鈥� I get that. ... And then, 鈥榃e鈥檙e bringing in Jacob Manu to compete.鈥� He became a starter. ... We don鈥檛 really have a lot of starting spots open, and that鈥檒l be a very tough one to crack.鈥�

Do you recruit your own players to stay with potential poachers lurking, like last year?

A: 鈥淟ast year鈥檚 group is very different than this year鈥檚 group. We all learned from a year ago and what the results are and what that looks like. Usually, they don鈥檛 come to you, they come telling you, but I don鈥檛 envision that with the team that we have. I have challenged all of our players, 鈥楢sk all of the guys that have transferred in here, 鈥榃hat do they like about it here?鈥� versus 鈥榃hat do they like about the other places they鈥檝e been?鈥� And where would they choose to go if they could do it all over again? And then research all the guys who aren鈥檛 here that have made decisions for the wrong reasons. Now there鈥檚 a lot of people that have transferred because of the fact that it鈥檚 the right thing to do for that person. 鈥楬ey, I don鈥檛 think I can be a starter here. I don鈥檛 think I can be in the two-deep (rotation) and I want to go play football.鈥�

鈥淚f that鈥檚 the case, that鈥檚 why a lot of people transfer. There鈥檚 the few that everyone likes to talk about that made decisions for financial sake. In that case, is that really a wise decision? I can tell you that if we were only making decisions based on money, there would be a lot of different scenarios occurring out here. There鈥檚 a lot more that has to go in it besides money. I think that is really the key.鈥�

How do you navigate preparing for a bowl game while simultaneously managing the transfer portal opening up and the early signing period for high school recruits approaching later this month? Would you change the recruiting calendar?

A: 鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly unique. It鈥檚 a unique time in college football to balance it all out. We had our end-of-the-year banquet (on Sunday), then the transfer portal opening (Monday), and we have all of our coaches out of the road on home visits. ... Yet, you鈥檙e still trying to monitor what鈥檚 happening back here. I鈥檝e got Oklahoma film on my computer, because I don鈥檛 just recruit and be Mr. Positive, I also have to call an offense and run the offense. To do that, that takes a lot of work.

鈥淪o there鈥檚 been a lot of different things that are happening. At the same time, there has to be a better way to regulate the roster from the NCAA perspective. What that means, I don鈥檛 know. I鈥檝e always said a salary cap would be a great thing to have, so your roster isn鈥檛 dealt with in a piecemeal and you just have a better idea on how to do it. Maybe it鈥檚 a better way to have an early signing period. Maybe you can sign at any time and that commitment has to stay firm unless there鈥檚 a coaching change. Maybe there鈥檚 a way to figure out a way that you can open the transfer portal up after bowl games, not before.

鈥淪o let the CFP finish and then open up the portal. If you鈥檙e coaching a team like us, playing in the first bowl game since 2017, that鈥檚 a big deal. And the last thing you want to do is start losing players to the portal. You鈥檙e asking donors and alumni to come support the game and they鈥檙e like, 鈥榃ell who am I supporting?鈥� It would be a nice thing if they said, 鈥楬ey, your team is your team. When the football season comes to an end, that is the day of the national championship game. That is when the season comes to an end. At that point you can enter the portal.鈥� ... I think a lot has to change. It鈥檚 not where it needs to be by any means.鈥�