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Transfer Cycle 2025-2026 - Shit In One Hand, Hope In the Other, Tell Us Which One Fills Up Faster

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Just now, Fud said:

Were you under the impression that our NIL resources were infinite? If so, then why?

Then don’t say you’re all in if you’re going to be frugal

Edited by BurntOrange&White

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  • trythisathome
    trythisathome

    Not strictly transfer related, but significant roster news 

  • This kind of shit from our fanbase wears me out. Sark took over a lost program and since we've been to 2 semis and should have been in the playoffs this year but for a committee that doesn't understan

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1 minute ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Then don’t say you’re all in if your going to be frugal

Did Sark say we were going "all in" on NIL?

18 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Then don’t say you’re all in if you’re going to be frugal

All in does not mean an unlimited blank check. If you feel differently perhaps you can sponsor Cam Coleman yourself.

16 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

If we’re already citing finite resources then we’re truly not all in.

Nick Marsh is better than every receiver on our current roster.

OTF pushing needing a speedy slot seems like a misuse of the portal for receiver. We have a 5 star coming in that is the most electric receiver we’ve recruited since Worthy. Use him and get him up to speed. If a receiver can’t get up to speed with your offense then change the complexity of your offense. No fucking way should receivers struggle to learn an offense in this day and age of football.

Lastly you don’t have to be a 10.3 track guy to be wide open deep or to create separation.

Yeah great point, just make the money unlimited and get Jeremiah Smith and Cam Coleman or we’re not all in! Let’s get Sam Leavitt in to back up Arch too. In any case, if this is the all in year, we probably don’t want to rely on a 155 lb true freshman.

We were missing a burner with agility and quick twitch. That’s just an archetype we don’t have outside of Bishop.

From what I understand Oregon, Texas, Ohio State, and Texas Tech are the only 4 schools with “unlimited” NIL money. If they don’t get a player it’s for something other than monetary reasons. Unlimited in the sense that their pockets run so much deeper than anyone else’s a bidding war is never a concern. Obviously no one thinks NIL money is literally endless.

Charlie Williams: A Different Way to Think About the Transfer Portal at Texas

At some point, every program reaches this stage. The part where tough conversations have to happen. You’re working with agents, trying to keep certain players in the building, figuring out what they’re worth and whether it still makes sense. At the same time, you’re looking at others and asking hard questions. Who can you replace? Who have you outgrown? And who are you willing to push into the portal because you believe there’s a better option out there? That’s the reality of roster management now — balancing retention, replacement, and the belief that you can upgrade.

You can live with some attrition. That’s modern roster management. You expect guys to leave while hoping others come in. Think of players like Tre Wisner, Liona Lefau, and others in similar situations. But it gets murkier when the plan doesn’t go exactly how you drew it up. What if you don’t land the players you targeted? What if the board dries up faster than expected? Is that settling? Or is that just the reality of team building now?

There are always lists. Players you believe can help you win. Players who don’t quite fit. Players you’re willing to invest in and players you’re not. Those evaluations don’t change just because a name trends or a fan base gets loud. The work is done long before the portal window opens. Are negotiations happening behind the scenes? Of course they are. The rules still exist. They’re just worked around, blurred, or flat-out ignored. Everybody sees what’s happening. Everybody knows it.

And yet, nobody really bats an eye. It’s like Texas and special teams — overlooked until an onside kick happens (Georgia) and you don’t get the ball back, and suddenly you’re down two scores. That’s the portal right now. You can’t afford to be passive. You have to be aggressive and go after what you want.

For Texas, this portal cycle feels different. Not because they suddenly discovered the portal, but because the needs are real and obvious — offensive line help, running back, possibly a true number one receiver, a veteran quarterback, veteran defensive backs, linebackers, and defensive line depth. These aren’t luxury additions. These are roster questions that have to be answered. This will be the most aggressive Texas will be in this portal cycle. And that’s where the real philosophical divide shows up.

Do you overshoot financially for one headline name — like Jadan Baugh — or do you take that same money and go get two solid running backs who can actually help you win games? If I can bring in someone like Hollywood Smothers and pair him with another proven back like Cam Cook or Caleb Hawkins from UNT, I’m doing that all day. Smothers is fun to watch. He’s sudden, comfortable in space, and brings real juice to the position. Pair that with a back who has shown consistent production and can handle real snaps, and now you’re talking about value and flexibility — not just chasing a name.

That approach lines up with the Jimmy Johnson philosophy. It’s the same idea as the Herschel Walker trade — one expensive, high-profile piece versus taking that same value and turning it into volume. Instead of tying up resources in one name, you spread it across the roster. More bodies. More competition. More answers when injuries hit. That approach isn’t about avoiding stars; it’s about understanding that football is a roster game, not a one-player game.

Sure, there are some guys that fit the profile that you shoot for the stars for, a la Cam Coleman, now that he’s in the portal, and others, but those are one-off situations to me. Can’t miss prospects. I’m not hung up on names or logos. I’m hung up on film and production. A player who has produced over multiple seasons tells me something important — he can be trusted. Consistency matters. It’s no different than recruiting out of high school. Star rankings don’t win games. Football players do.

Give me the traits I value. Give me the measurables I’m looking for. Give me film that matches the résumé. If he can play football, I don’t care where he came from or how many logos were chasing him. Maybe fans call that settling. I call it trusting your evaluation and your ability to find talent. You don’t build a roster by chasing headlines. You build it by stacking players who fit, produce, and raise the floor of your team. Depth becomes strength. Injuries don’t wreck seasons. Competition stays real.

At some point, the conversation moves from ideas to execution. Names will come. Decisions will get made. And when they do, how Texas approaches this portal cycle will say a lot. Not just about who they bring in, but about what they truly value when it comes to building a football team.

3 minutes ago, Helobious said:

From what I understand Oregon, Texas, Ohio State, and Texas Tech are the only 4 schools with “unlimited” NIL money. If they don’t get a player it’s for something other than monetary reasons. Unlimited in the sense that their pockets run so much deeper than anyone else’s a bidding war is never a concern. Obviously no one thinks NIL money is literally endless.

Ohio State doesn't have unlimited NIL

20 hours ago, Tex-19 said:

Fair question imo. If you take out LIU and FSU, the numbers aren't exciting. He certainly passed the eye test against Texas but still only 4.0 ypc in that game.

One thing that's encouraging is 5.3 ypc despite not having a run longer than 26. That means he probably doesn't get stuffed much and is a good short-yardage back.

He gets all of his yards between the tackles and has very good vision and footwork in traffic. He always goes forward and is the exact type of back that we thought CJ Baxter was going to be. This is the type of guy that really makes Sarks system go, when we can reliably stay ahead of the chains and then dial up shots.

1 minute ago, Im_smarter_then_you said:

I actually agree with sark

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17 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Charlie Williams: A Different Way to Think About the Transfer Portal at Texas

that was a good read, thank you. The part that concerns me is Texas having to trust the coaches evaluations. The amount of additions we need from the portal along with the belief in banks and flood are pretty big concerns I think. Muschamp should be able to cover the defensive side pretty well, he knows what he needs to make his scheme work.

On 12/26/2025 at 10:36 AM, Sgt Hulk said:

Michigan should be fun with our 2 headed monster if Simon and Clark 

IT is reporting that Simon has fallen behind Michael Terry on the depth chart.

13 hours ago, Herbie Hancock said:

Scudero had a whopping 60 yards against our vaunted pass defense and. Produced less than 75 yards against defensive powerhouses such as Utah State, Air Force, Nevada and Fresno state. Idk what it is with yall that are so fixated on the guy that played for San Jose state and previously for….checks notes… Sacramento state. Btw, Sacramento, just like San Jose and Fresno, is a city and not a state.

I swear none of you guys actually watch football. If you don't think this guy could come in and play here, I don't know what to tell you.

2 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Wingo is our #1 WR. Let’s see if he’d be a number one on the 12 playoff teams…

Indiana no

Ohio state no, not even number 2

Georgia no

Tech no

Oregon no

Tech no

Aggie no

James Madison yes

Tulane yes

Alabama no

Oklahoma maybe

Ole Miss no

Wingo outperformed the #1 receivers at Georgia, Tech, Ole Miss and Bama this year.

I'd like to see more posts saying a good OL is important to having a good team. Or maybe some more repetition about what we need out of the portal. Definitely more largely irrelevant regurgitation of football board diatribe.

A person doesn't have to copy and paste (but I do it from memory! hurrah for you.) the same shit over and over to every new thread he visits. Try to be funny every once in awhile.

tumblr_lz1a99qC7C1qemz6qo1_500.gif

19 hours ago, Hermanator said:

Taaffe had some injury issues but also got exposed a bit without Barron and Makuba out there with him.

All American, but yeah super got exposed. Lmao.

14 minutes ago, Js1 said:

This is a horrific answer. The fact that as an organization expectations aren't being set and they are just open Fielding shit is fucking crazy to me. What the actual fuck does Brandon Harris do all god damned day?

Just now, immamac said:

All American, but yeah super got exposed. Lmao.

This is a horrific answer. The fact that as an organization expectations aren't being set and they are just open Fielding shit is fucking crazy to me. What the actual fuck does Brandon Harris do all god damned day?

Another terrible look for Sark imo

Oh geez. Didn’t mean to bat signal the Eeeyores

2 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Another terrible look for Sark imo

Definitely seems like the excuses are being baked in before the portal even opens

21 hours ago, Tex-19 said:

Fair question imo. If you take out LIU and FSU, the numbers aren't exciting. He certainly passed the eye test against Texas but still only 4.0 ypc in that game.

One thing that's encouraging is 5.3 ypc despite not having a run longer than 26. That means he probably doesn't get stuffed much and is a good short-yardage back.

He is an NFL RB. He has good vision, quick feet, and power. He has not shown that explosive element though. He is a guy that will keep you on schedule, which has been a huge issue for the offense since Sark got here. I am not all in on Baugh. I would love to have him, but its more about ROI. I am not sure if a guy like Hollywood Smothers fits Sark better with his big play ability. There will be a lot of good RBs in the portal. Key for me would be for Texas to find that thunder and lightning combo. Find someone that can do the job on 3rd and 1 and someone that can turn good blocking into a 50 yard TD. Texas has not had a power guy since Rojo left. Last year Texas had neither a power nor explosive RB.

Edited by Codaxx

4 minutes ago, immamac said:

All American, but yeah super got exposed. Lmao.

This is a horrific answer. The fact that as an organization expectations aren't being set and they are just open Fielding shit is fucking crazy to me. What the actual fuck does Brandon Harris do all god damned day?

Do you want him to admit to tampering during a press conference?

Can Coleman Baugh and all these hot shots won’t mean dick in sarks system if the line can only traffic cone block for 1 second. I hope we don’t break the bank at the expense of our dog shit o line. Give arch 3-4 seconds and even futureman could get open in a secondary. Wisner. Had 1000 yards the prior year because we had a half functioning o line. A home run running back isn’t doing shit here if he’s hit 2 yards in backfield every single play

20 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Wingo outperformed the #1 receivers at Georgia, Tech, Ole Miss and Bama this year.

But his feelings?

5 minutes ago, Sgt Hulk said:

Can Coleman Baugh and all these hot shots won’t mean dick in sarks system if the line can only traffic cone block for 1 second. I hope we don’t break the bank at the expense of our dog shit o line. Give arch 3-4 seconds and even futureman could get open in a secondary. Wisner. Had 1000 yards the prior year because we had a half functioning o line. A home run running back isn’t doing shit here if he’s hit 2 yards in backfield every single play

Great Rb will mask some of the issue, see Bijan. You are right though. Barring this year, Texas has not been hurting at the skill positions on offense and has yet to produce an elite offense. The OL has generally been the limiting factor, perhaps 2024 was the exception. Getting a functional OL will improve all the skill player's production. IF you told me Texas would miss on Baugh and Coleman but have a top 10 OL next year, I would extremely happy.

1 minute ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

Sark’s shot at Wisner’s “agent” was pretty good. Wisner trusting a 20-something lawyer with no experience is bizarre.

Unscrupulous agents over inflating a kid’s worth to try to get a bigger commission. They’re the new uncles - the athletes are being screwed by people pretending to have their best interests in mind

15 minutes ago, immamac said:

All American, but yeah super got exposed. Lmao.

This is a horrific answer. The fact that as an organization expectations aren't being set and they are just open Fielding shit is fucking crazy to me. What the actual fuck does Brandon Harris do all god damned day?

I didn't actually have any problem with his answer. He's addressing an issue with college football today that there is no control over who are agents and the issues it causes. I don't think Sark is open fielding calls from agents....but the same thing happens in the NFL when a players agent as for a unrealistic number from a team. Maybe I'm missing something there, but UT has no control over what an agent is going to ask for when talking to them about a player???

15 minutes ago, cmontexas said:

Definitely seems like the excuses are being baked in before the portal even opens

What excuse? He was asked about dealing with agents in the portal era and he answered it?

Just now, TexasRenegade said:

I didn't actually have any problem with his answer. He's addressing an issue with college football today that there is no control over who are agents and the issues it causes. I don't think Sark is open fielding calls from agents....but the same thing happens in the NFL when a players agent as for a unrealistic number from a team. Maybe I'm missing something there, but UT has no control over what an agent is going to ask for when talking to them about a player???

Yeah, he was calling out agents who are overinflating someone’s (like Wisner’s) worth to get a bigger cut. These are grifters just looking out for their bottom line and there’s no licensing or certification to make sure they are legit.

The r/CFB post about it understood Sark’s intent to call out the grifting agents being unregulated and giving kids bad advice.

13 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Do you want him to admit to tampering during a press conference?

No, he was talking about roster management of active players as well. That was the sugary version imagine how bad it really is.

4 minutes ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

Sark’s shot at Wisner’s “agent” was pretty good. Wisner trusting a 20-something lawyer with no experience is bizarre.

Grayson isn't just out on an island. Lionhart is an actual agency with real experienced people that work there and run it. They aren't just letting him run around doing whatever the fuck he wants. I've met the partners and they rep a lot more names you are familiar with at Texas.

Tre Wisner wanted to get paid for intangibles on top of being a feature back. The staff didn't see the value in those intangibles and obviously signaled thay he may not even be the feature back. What is he supposed to do? Tre Wisner had all the cards and now Texas has to hope their incoming freshman that sark is pumping in a bowl presser works out or they find another guy who will cost just as much as wisner was asking for in the portal.

47 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Gotta be tre wisner right?

As much as I love Tre Wisner and what he did at Texas, he did not "hold all the cards." There are multiple advanced stats out there showing he was one of the worst starting RB's in the SEC. In no way do you let yourself be held hostage by a guy like that - his performances against ou and aggy notwithstanding.

I am 100% confident that Texas will bring someone in at RB who can, at worst, match what Wisner did this year.

5 minutes ago, immamac said:

Tre Wisner had all the cards and now Texas has to hope their incoming freshman that sark is pumping in a bowl presser works out or they find another guy who will cost just as much as wisner was asking for in the portal.

I don’t think they have an issue paying what Tre Wisner was asking for.

They just weren’t going to pay it to Tre Wisner.

8 minutes ago, immamac said:

No, he was talking about roster management of active players as well. That was the sugary version imagine how bad it really is.

Grayson isn't just out on an island. Lionhart is an actual agency with real experienced people that work there and run it. They aren't just letting him run around doing whatever the fuck he wants. I've met the partners and they rep a lot more names you are familiar with at Texas.

Tre Wisner wanted to get paid for intangibles on top of being a feature back. The staff didn't see the value in those intangibles and obviously signaled thay he may not even be the feature back. What is he supposed to do? Tre Wisner had all the cards and now Texas has to hope their incoming freshman that sark is pumping in a bowl presser works out or they find another guy who will cost just as much as wisner was asking for in the portal.

We get it, you're taking up for your friend instead of looking at this rationally from Texas's perspective.

Being frank, your friend and the entire Lionhart agency come off looking like a fucking joke.

18 minutes ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

Sark’s shot at Wisner’s “agent” was pretty good. Wisner trusting a 20-something lawyer with no experience is bizarre.

Just now, Gidnik said:

Gotta be tre wisner right?

I knew Ricky Williams a little bit in college and he's obviously thoughtful, reasonably intelligent, and more importantly, curious (you get this in interviews and when he does tv).

That said, we're talking about someone who hired Master P to his agent and signed an atrocious first contract when most of his peers were signing "set for life" money in their rookie deals.

21 year old football players making dumb decisions (particularly with money) is pretty par for the course.

13 minutes ago, immamac said:

Tre Wisner had all the cards and now Texas has to hope their incoming freshman that sark is pumping in a bowl presser works out or they find another guy who will cost just as much as wisner was asking for in the portal.

lmao

5 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

I don’t think they have an issue paying what Tre Wisner was asking for.

They just weren’t going to pay it to Tre Wisner.

Yeah which is why he was trying for it. He was de-facto RB1. I am in no way saying he is worth it either I'm talking about the general ask and how it was explained to me by the fucking people involved.

Oh noes, we have to find a RB in the portal as good as Wisner, what ever will we do

1 minute ago, immamac said:

Yeah which is why he was trying for it. He was de-facto RB1. I am in no way saying he is worth it either I'm talking about the general ask and how it was explained to me by the fucking people involved.

Seems like they were incorrect about how Texas thought of tre, at least as it pertains to financial commitment. Will they also let you know what he eventually signs for?

1 minute ago, Fud said:

lmao

In negotiating he did. Everyone else transferred out or left the team already, there's fucking memes about the entire room being empty, that's how bad it obviously is. Texas has no "backup plan" we all saw the fucking backups play this season. Stop acting like everyone wanted wisner benched or to get less carries. They are obviously looking at what RBs from the portal would cost for RB1 at Texas and asking for that money.

Sure there's gonna guys out there who are gets and who are gonna command what wisner was asking. That's fine, the ask wasn't insane and neither was the breakdown saying good luck to you. It's unfortunate and part of the way things are today.

1 minute ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Seems like they were incorrect about how Texas thought of tre, at least as it pertains to financial commitment. Will they also let you know what he eventually signs for?

Yeah that's the entire point of this. It's not that the number was absurd it's that Texas thinks they can do better for the same number. That's not weird or due to some weird shit with an agent. It's part of the new landscape.

I'll definitely find out.

20 minutes ago, immamac said:

No, he was talking about roster management of active players as well. That was the sugary version imagine how bad it really is.

Grayson isn't just out on an island. Lionhart is an actual agency with real experienced people that work there and run it. They aren't just letting him run around doing whatever the fuck he wants. I've met the partners and they rep a lot more names you are familiar with at Texas.

Tre Wisner wanted to get paid for intangibles on top of being a feature back. The staff didn't see the value in those intangibles and obviously signaled thay he may not even be the feature back. What is he supposed to do? Tre Wisner had all the cards and now Texas has to hope their incoming freshman that sark is pumping in a bowl presser works out or they find another guy who will cost just as much as wisner was asking for in the portal.

Tre Wisner has all of the cards? He’s not even an average back at the P4 level. In almost every metric he is near the bottom in college football. I think he lacks a little self awareness.

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