Early college football transfer portal winners, losers: Texas Tech reloads, LSU starts slow – The Athletic
By Sam Khan Jr., Antonio Morales and Manny Navarro
The portal giveth and the portal taketh away. Which teams did the best in the first four days the college football transfer portal was open and which teams have been hit the hardest?
Winners
Indiana
It’s hard to imagine the weekend going better for the No. 1 team in the land. The Hoosiers are still in the hunt for a national championship and meet Oregon in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Friday. In the meantime, they’re working on constructing next year’s title-contending team and Sunday was a strong start to those efforts.
Indiana landed TCU transfer quarterback Josh Hoover, the No. 4 QB in The Athletic’s portal rankings; Michigan State transfer Nick Marsh, one of the top receivers available; and Turbo Richard, Boston College’s leading rusher. It’s also added some impact pass rushers from Kansas State in Tobi Osunsanmi and Chiddi Obiazor. More commitments are rolling in, seemingly every few hours.
In short: The Hoosiers are loading up for another CFP run in 2026 and have done an elite job of stocking up on impact transfers in a hurry.
Texas Tech
The team that made the biggest splash in the 2025 portal cycle has made it clear that it’s not going anywhere. Much of the attention from the weekend centered on the Red Raiders landing their top quarterback target, Cincinnati transfer Brendan Sorsby (the No. 1 QB in the portal), but the Red Raiders have also done well at other need positions so far.
Texas Tech needed a linebacker and signed Kansas State transfer Austin Romaine, a two-time All-Big 12 selection. The Red Raiders needed edge rushers and landed San Diego State transfer Trey White, a two-time first-team All-Mountain West pick. Tech is also the favorite to land Oklahoma State transfer Wendell Gregory, one of the top edge rushers in the portal. Gregory, who visited over the weekend, had eight sacks and 12 tackles for loss in 2025.
Oklahoma State
When Oklahoma State hired former North Texas coach Eric Morris in November, one of the first things fans and observers wanted to know was: “Will he bring his quarterback with him?” We got a definitive answer to that on Saturday when the Cowboys landed Drew Mestemaker, the No. 3 QB in the portal.
But there are many more players making the drive from Denton, Texas, up Interstate 35 to Stillwater, Okla. By the end of Sunday, nine former Mean Green players had committed, including running back Caleb Hawkins, who was coveted by multiple Power 4 programs, and top receiver Wyatt Young, who also had heavy interest from other P4 schools. Two more players, defensive lineman Fatafehi Vailea and safety Evan Jackson, joined on Monday to bring the total to 11. It’s a logical move, as Morris brought much of his staff from North Texas with him to Stillwater.
The Cowboys were 1-11 last year with a roster that one Power 4 general manager said was one of the worst he’d seen in 2025. There is still a ton of work for Morris and his staff to do, as 59 of Oklahoma State’s scholarship players on the 2025 roster have entered the portal so far. What Oklahoma State acquires on the line of scrimmage will be most critical. But bringing the nucleus of what was the No. 1 scoring offense in 2025 is a heck of a start.
Penn State
No team has added more FBS starters in the portal so far than the 12 the Nittany Lions have. Unsurprisingly, Matt Campbell has leaned on the players he knows, bringing in 19 transfers from Iowa State. That includes both starting quarterback Rocco Becht and his heir apparent, Alex Manske, and several others who were coveted at their position in the portal. Running back Carson Hansen, receivers Brett Eskildsen and Chase Sowell, tight ends Benjamin Brahmer and Gabe Burkle, linebackers Kooper Ebel and Caleb Bacon and safety Marcus Neal are all solid, productive, experienced players who will help Campbell and his staff hit the ground running.
Penn State has also retained several key players and added a Monday commitment from Keanu Williams, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound defensive tackle who started 11 games for UCLA in 2025.
Texas A&M
The Aggies aren’t necessarily grabbing headlines with flashy additions, but they’re doing solid work in landing impact players at key positions. Tulsa transfer Ray Coney was one of the top linebackers in the portal and was the eighth-leading tackler in the FBS with 129 stops. Colorado transfer Tawfiq Byard is a talented hybrid safety who was disruptive in the box for the Buffaloes but also capable in coverage.
The Aggies picked up two SEC starting guards, South Carolina’s Trovon Baugh and LSU’s Coen Echols. UTSA transfer Houston Thomas is a productive tight end and arrives after the Aggies did well in finding value at the position with Nebraska transfer Nate Boerkircher, who played a key role in A&M’s 2025 offense.
We don’t often talk about specialists, but that was a major need for the Aggies too, after they struggled in the kicking game throughout the 2025 season. Illinois transfer David Olano, who made 20 of 23 field goals last season, should help shore up the Aggies at placekicker.
LSU is off to a slow start in the transfer portal through the first few days. (Tyler Kaufman / Getty Images)
Losers
LSU
It’s still very early for Lane Kiffin, but a lot of his success in roster building will be contingent upon signing a high-profile quarterback. Monday’s news regarding his former star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss at Ole Miss — and his intentions to return to Oxford if his waiver seeking a sixth year of eligibility is approved by the NCAA — wasn’t good for the Tigers. It’ll be even worse news if top portal target Sam Leavitt from Arizona State decides to leave Baton Rouge without making a pledge to continue his career there.
So far, the Tigers have had 24 players exit. Among them are five starters on offense, including leading rusher Caden Durham and four offensive linemen headlined by freshman offensive tackle Carius Curne. Yes, it’s true, we’ve yet to see which players from Ole Miss will be following Kiffin to Baton Rouge. But it’s important to note the Rebels are still playing for a national championship and most of their best starters on offense are seniors.
The Tigers have landed one FBS starter from the portal so far: ex-Hawaii receiver Jackson Harris, a redshirt sophomore who led the Rainbow Warriors with 963 yards and 12 touchdowns on 49 catches.
Iowa State
Nobody might have a tougher job ahead of him than Jimmy Rogers, who has to replace 52 scholarship players on the Cyclones roster lost to the portal, including 17 starters. Most of them, as mentioned, have followed Campbell and his ex-Cyclones assistants to Penn State.
Rogers has managed to land commitments from 16 players thus far, including six players who were with him at Washington State last season. None, however, started more than four games for him in Pullman. Of the 16 pickups, four were starters at the FBS level last season: quarterback Jaylen Raynor (Arkansas State), cornerback Keyon Washington (Bowling Green), offensive tackle Maasai King (Akron) and tight end Tyler Fortenberry (Arkansas State).
Like we said, it’s not going to be easy to fill all the holes.
Florida State
Mike Norvell’s return to Tallahassee following 2-10 and 5-7 seasons has naturally led to some roster overhaul for the Seminoles. But Norvell is also dealing with some of the program’s best young players entering the market and testing the waters. FSU was able to retain two starting defensive backs: safety Ashlyn Barker and cornerback Ja’Bril Rawls. But seven other Seminoles who started at least four games this past season have entered the portal, including linebacker Justin Cryer, cornerback Edwin Joseph and freshman receiver Jayvan Boggs. The latest entries from Monday included twins Darryll and Mandrell Desir, freshmen defensive linemen who made an impact this past season.
The Seminoles did land a commitment from ex-Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner, who led the Longhorns with 597 rushing yards this past season, and ex-South Alabama cornerback Nehemiah Chandler. But Florida State has some of its own young players threatening to leave, and it needs quarterback help. Reports emerged Monday night that it could be closing in on a commitment from Ashton Daniels, who has thrown just 24 touchdown passes compared to 22 interceptions over his career at Auburn and Stanford.
North Texas
The Mean Green had a historic season, winning a school-record 12 games and making the American Conference title game with one of the lowest roster budgets in their conference. Their reward? Getting their roster raided by Power 4 conference programs, including the one where their former coach is now running the show.
That’s the reality for Group of 5 programs in the revenue-sharing era. Top players on G5 contenders become prime targets for more wealthy teams. Out the door went Mestemaker, Hawkins, Young and many others to Oklahoma State, and 37 total scholarship players are in the portal, including 14 who started four or more games for UNT in 2025.
New coach Neal Brown and his staff have a lot of work to do and have also been in the process of assembling the front office. Last month, the Mean Green hired Errin Joe, the former Georgia Tech general manager who was most recently at Texas, where Brown was an analyst last year. In the last week they’ve added Western Kentucky personnel director Jarae Thurmond and Texas Tech assistant scouting director Wesley Harwell. It’s a talented personnel staff that will need to restock a roster with a ton of needs. The Mean Green did host multiple Power 4 transfers on campus Monday, so things are moving in the right direction.
San Diego State
The Aztecs had one of the best defenses in the country this season. They ranked sixth nationally in yards per play allowed (4.36 yards) and seventh in scoring defense (15.4 points).
San Diego State has already lost three critical players to that unit. Edge rusher Trey White, who finished top five nationally in sacks with 12.5 in 2024 and added seven more in 2025, committed to Texas Tech. Linebacker Owen Chambliss led the team with 110 tackles (9.5 for loss) and committed to Nebraska, which hired Aztecs defensive coordinator Rob Aurich for the same role.
Safety Dalesean Staley, who finished second on the team with 80 tackles, is in the portal as well. The Aztecs have had a strong track record defensively but will need to reset there this offseason. San Diego State also lost second-team All-Mountain West punter Hunter Green, who ranked sixth nationally with an average of 46.97 yards per punt this season
