Texas Football: Should Horns try and snag OU RB transfer Trey Sermon?

Former Oklahoma Sooners running back and Texas football rival Trey Sermon will graduate and transfer to become immediately eligible somewhere else.

The biggest name to hit the NCAA Transfer Portal of late in the midst of the 2020 college football offseason is the former Oklahoma Sooners running back Trey Sermon. This is a name that pretty much every Power Five team that has a running back need should consider. Does that list include the Texas football program?

As a former rival running back of the Texas Longhorns football program, both head coach Tom Herman and OU head coach Lincoln Riley are very familiar with what Sermon did for both sides. Sermon will head into the transfer portal as maybe the most immediate impact running back that is uncommitted on the open market.

Moreover, Sermon announced his intentions to transfer from Oklahoma on his Twitter timeline on the morning of March 14. Amid all of the hiatuses and precautions put into place, even stemming to impact the college football landscape, the announcement of Sermon’s transfer provides some tangible news that doesn’t have to do with any virus.

Before considering what Sermon could do for the Longhorns coming out of the transfer portal, it is important to know how big of a need Herman has at the running back position. There is more depth than usual at the running back position for the Longhorns heading into spring ball.

Since Texas plans on keeping to-be sophomore Roschon Johnson at running back, there is a bit more depth than originally anticipated. Johnson will join rising junior Keaontay Ingram and incoming freshman former five-star recruit Bijan Robinson as likely the top three running backs on the Longhorns roster.

Texas also has other names worth watching in the running back room including senior Daniel Young, redshirt freshman Derrian Brown, and potentially incoming freshman Jaden Hullaby that add depth here.

If Texas was to move Roschon back to quarterback, then pursuing Sermon out of the transfer portal might make more sense.

Most of the value that Sermon would bring to the table for the Longhorns has to do with his proven experience and limited eligibility left in college. Sermon would only stick around for one year in all likelihood at his next landing spot.

What Sermon also brings with him from Norman is more than 2,000 career rushing yards, an average of 6.1 yards per carry, and 25 total touchdowns. He did see his workload greatly drop off in 2019 compared to 2018, where he finished with less than 400 rushing yards and five total touchdowns.

But the 6-foot and 215 pound Mariette, GA, native is about as well-rounded as a running back will come in the transfer portal. He’s a good run blocker, capable pass catcher out of the backfield, and a bulldozer that can cut through multiple levels of a defense.

Sermon is a former four-star recruit that came out of Sprayberry High School in Georgia. He had more than 30 offers coming out of high school, but Texas was not one of them. When Sermon signed with Oklahoma as part of their 2017 recruiting class, Herman was just getting settled in on the Forty Acres. He was just hired away from the Houston Cougars.

All in all, it seems like the only way it would make sense for the Longhorns to try and pursue Sermon was if injury problems persisted in spring ball and looked to carry all the way to the fall. Or if they decided to move Roschon back to his original position, quarterback, then there could be another spot open at running back.

The rise of Kennedy Brooks and Rhamondre Stevenson in Norman likely led to this transfer decision from Sermon on March 14. He will immediately become one of the most high-profile names available on the transfer market. And the Longhorns likely won’t be one of the teams to put their hat in the ring to land Sermon, but it could be a possibility.