Texas Football: KJ Costello Mississippi St transfer shakes up landscape
Yet another major announcement out of the NCAA Transfer Portal saw a quarterback shakeup beyond the Texas football program on Feb. 3.
The NCAA Transfer Portal shook the college football landscape yet again on Feb. 3 with the announcement that the former Stanford Cardinal quarterback KJ Costello would be transferring to link up with head coach Mike Leach and the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Costello was a starting quarterback with head coach David Shaw and the Cardinal for two years before putting his name in the transfer portal entering the 2020 offseason. This news does send shockwaves that can be interpreted by the Texas football program and beyond.
The Texas Longhorns football program has yet to turn to the transfer portal for any answers yet during the 2020 college football offseason. Head coach Tom Herman and the Longhorns could take to that route eventually (as usual), but it might take some time for his new coaching staff to settle in.
However, the transfer of Costello to land in the SEC West with Mississippi State reportedly came on Feb. 3 and was some of the biggest portal news to surface yet during the 2020 college football offseason. Costello announced his transfer to Mississippi State on Instagram on Monday and it came with a long message thanking the “Stanford family”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8H0zP7pa3y/
If not for landing Costello out of the transfer portal, Mississippi State could’ve been forming a starting quarterback battle between to-be sophomore Garrett Shrader and senior Keytaon Thompson. But Leach decided to take a quarterback with him from the PAC-12 to the SEC with Costello now becoming the immediate favorite in all likelihood to win the starting job.
Costello brings with him 6,151 career passing yards and 52 total touchdowns to just 18 interceptions. He has a career 143.8 passer efficiency rating and eight adjusted yards per passing attempt. Those are some solid numbers that he will be bringing with him to Starkville for the 2020 season and the final year of his eligibility in college.
Moreover, the impact of Costello transferring from Stanford to Mississippi State obviously stems well beyond just those two programs and even these two conferences. It continues the trend of the transfer portal becoming college football’s version of free agency.
College basketball is even having its landscape dramatically altered by the institution of the transfer portal in recent years.
This offseason alone, the college football landscape saw a number of high-profile signal callers take their talents to new Power Five programs. Former Houston Cougars quarterback D’Eriq King landed with the Miami Hurricanes and former Wake Forest Demon Deacons breakthrough signal caller Jamie Newman landed with the Georgia Bulldogs.
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Mississippi State finished up their 2019 season with a record of 6-7 (3-5 SEC). Former Washington State Cougars and Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Leach will be trying to elevate that program in the post-Joe Moorehead-era. The state of Mississippi will be fun to watch in general this year with Lane Kiffin coaching up the Ole Miss Rebels and Leach leading the way for Mississippi State.