Texas LB Ayodele Adeoye back in the NCAA Transfer Portal

Let the movement in the NCAA Transfer Portal begin for new head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program as the offseason begins early on the Forty Acres this year. Texas has lost a few key former blue-chip recruits to the transfer portal in the last month or so. And there could be more to come in the days and weeks ahead depending on which direction this staff is trying to take the program heading into the offseason.

The latest Longhorns player to put his name in the transfer portal is the former four-star recruit and junior linebacker Ayodele Adeoye. A report from 247Sports confirmed that Adeoye put his name in the transfer portal for the second time in as many offseasons.

Last offseason, Adeoye put his name in the portal after former Texas head coach Tom Herman was replaced by Sarkisian. But he would ultimately return to the Forty Acres in the summer and at least play some snaps during the 2021 season.

Texas football sees LB Ayodele Adeoye enter the transfer portal for the second time in 2021

Yet, Adeoye was never really able to make sustained progress up the depth chart at linebacker this fall. Considering he was healthy throughout the season it seems, the fact that Adeoye only got around 75 snaps on defense in 2021 shows how he fell down the depth chart since his freshman campaign.

While Adeoye only got just under 40 snaps on defense with the Longhorns last season, that largely came due to the fact that he was injured most of the way. He was just beat out on the depth chart by other linebackers, namely former walk-on and junior Luke Brockermeyer.

Adeoye entering the transfer portal isn’t a huge surprise given a few factors. For anyone that wasn’t a key part of the two-deep and isn’t a freshman, there are indications that Sark and the Longhorns could be exploring other options for upgrades in the transfer portal this offseason. Knowing that Adeoye could be facing an even further uphill battle to get key snaps next year, he likely wanted to try and get more immediate playing time elsewhere.

And there is always the threat of a player entering the transfer portal again when he returns to the same school he started with after going in the first time. This now looks to be the case with Adeoye.

Over the course of three seasons, and roughly 20 games played, Adeoye registered 62 combined tackles, four tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one interception, and two pass breakups. Most of his playing time at Texas came back during his freshman season in 2019, though.

Texas finished up the 2021 season last week with a record of 5-7 (3-6 Big 12) after a Black Friday win over the Kansas State Wildcats at home. This program is now going to miss out on the postseason for the first time since 2016.