The transfer portal has become a significant part of college athletics.

Often, coaches have compared the process of recruiting somebody out of the transfer portal to speed dating. Things often move quickly once a player enters their name into the database and visits must be set up quickly with various coaches attempting to secure a commitment.

But what is it like for players who have gone through the process?

Turns out, it is very similar.

Redshirt senior linebacker Reid Carrico spent three seasons as a reserve and special teams option at Ohio State prior to electing to enter his name into the transfer portal looking for a new start in December 2023.

That led to some encouraging and awkward encounters with head coaches during that span.

Coaches contacted Carrico, a former four-star prospect, in rapid fashion and some let him know that they were interested and looking for a certain type of player and he fit the scheme. So, after those coaches discussed a possible visit to campus, he went through the process of setting things up only for things to stop.

“They ghost you and you don’t really talk anymore,” Carrico said.

And the same thing has occurred on his end as well as schools that he wasn’t very interested in contacted him in order to potentially set up a visit but that also went nowhere.

But where it truly gets hectic is once the visit process begins, as Carrico wanted to get out and prove to the schools that he was interested in them after he quickly whittled down his list.

“I was at six different schools in seven days. I was bouncing all over the place from the perspective of like I want to go see it for myself and see what they have to say rather than talking over the phone,” he said.

That process led Carrico to West Virginia, where he has family ties. The Ironton native’s father and grandmother are both Mountain State natives and that helped in the process. Carrico appeared in 12 games last season recording 54 tackles and a forced fumble but again was faced with a choice when the coaching staff that recruited him was let go after previous head coach, Neal Brown was relieved of his duties.

But that process didn’t take long to sort out after just going through it the year before.

“I already went through the portal once and that was a mess. So, I’m happy here. I love it here. So, I’m staying right here. I was good on that,” he said.

Still, Carrico understands those who did want to explore their options, as he had already done.

“I could see how other players like guys that decided to leave here, they put in multiple years with the old staff, and I could understand how they could be like I’m just going to get a fresh start somewhere else,” he said.