Seth Littrell has come to respect all KD Davis has given to the North Texas program over the course of his career.
That history was a key factor in UNT's coach giving the senior linebacker his blessing to explore all the options he had heading into the final season of his college career.
“KD has been here a long time and made a lot of great plays for us,” Littrell said Wednesday during Conference USA media day. “He earned the right to make sure this is exactly what is in his best interest for his future.”
Davis entered his name in the transfer portal late this summer and visited Texas A&M and Ole Miss, a pair of Southeastern Conference schools. He elected to return to UNT after taking those trips.
Davis was a first-team All-C-USA selection in 2021, when he led the Mean Green with 121 tackles and also paced the team with 13 tackles for loss. That production made him a hot commodity on the transfer market.
The former Ennis standout will be a fifth-year senior with the Mean Green this fall.
“A lot of people say that is one of the best conferences in college football,” Davis said of the SEC. “You can get the same level of exposure in C-USA as you can at those schools. I told my teammates it was cool, but everything you want to achieve you can do it here.”
Littrell, C-USA coaches ready for transfer changes
The NCAA Division I Council is expected to vote next month on a policy that would allow players to transfer multiple times and be immediately eligible.
The move came shortly after another proposal that would establish two windows for players to enter the transfer portal. The two windows would total 60 days — 45 days beginning in early December after the field for the College Football Playoff field is announced and 15 days in May.
Littrell pointed to roster management as the biggest challenge if the rules are adopted. Schools will have to gauge their needs when they put together their recruiting classes and react quickly if they lose players to transfer in the offseason.
“The rules have changed the way you manage a roster,” Littrell said. “We are going to have to adapt and adjust.”
The rest of the league's coaches echoed those sentiments, but several were concerned about the potential impact on college football.
"The majority of players know what they are doing," Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton said. "A young man who wants to transfer will do so one time and stay where he's at."
Helton pointed to quarterbacks as the exception to the rule. Several transfer more than once, including Jarret Doege, who spent time at Bowling Green and West Virginia before landing at WKU.
Florida Atlantic coach Willie Taggart is also in favor of allowing players to move to better situations but is concerned about the potential impact on their educational careers.
"I'm always in favor of anything that will help our student athletes," Taggart said. "What I'm not in favor of is changing our ways and not educating kids.
"We don't talk about graduation anymore. The more you transfer, the less likely you are to graduate."
MacLeod: No hard feelings as teams leave C-USA
Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod spoke extensively about the future of the league during media day.
While UNT's departure from C-USA lessens the league's interest in the school's future after this year, she did vow to make the final go-around for UNT, as well as Rice, UTSA, UAB, Charlotte and Florida Atlantic, as smooth as possible.
"There are no hard feelings with the schools that are leaving," MacLeod said. "We have great relationships with the schools that are in the league this year. We will always have those relationships. We look at this year as a celebration of this group."
