A&M DE/EDGE transfer Tunmise Adeleye has interest in Texas football

The early stages of the chaos that is bound to take place for Texas football in the NCAA Transfer Portal have started this week. Texas already lost eight players to the transfer portal this week, with more than a half-dozen of those emerging on Nov. 29 alone.

The chaos that is the movement in the transfer portal heading into the 2023 offseason is a two-way street, though. Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns will have a chance to add more than they lose to the portal in the 2023 class.

One of the names that could help the Longhorns out of the transfer portal in 2023 is one of the many Texas A&M Aggies players that have emerged on the market in the last couple of weeks.

The former four-star recruit and priority Texas target Tunmise Adeleye announced his intentions to enter the portal via a post on social media that originally came from Hayes Fawcett on Dec. 1. Adeleye is entering the portal after spending two seasons with head coach Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies.

Adeleye is a potential portal target for the Longhorns since he could fill a positional need at edge rusher. Texas was short on depth coming off the edge throughout the last two years. And while the edge rushers were more productive this season compared to last (largely thanks to the development of Barryn Sorrell this fall), it looks like this will still be a need the staff addresses in the portal heading into next offseason.

Mutual interest reportedly exists between Texas football and Texas A&M DE/EDGE transfer Tunmise Adeleye

It seems like Adeleye is an edge player that has already caught the attention of Texas’ defensive staff. According to a report from Eric Nahlin of Inside Texas on Dec. 2 (paid content), there appears to be mutual interest between Texas and Adeleye since he announced his intentions to enter the portal this week.

There are a few past connections that Adeleye has to the current Texas coaching staff. Jeff Banks was the primary recruiter spearheading Alabama’s pursuit of Adeleye during his recruitment out of high school. Banks and the Tide had a good relationship with Adeleye and his camp during his recruitment.

Pete Kwiatkowski was also the co-DC with the Washington Huskies when they offered Adeleye out of high school as part of the 2021 class.

Moreover, it sounds like Texas would be looking to have Adeleye become an immediate impact defensive end/edge rusher in the rotation along the defensive line heading into the 2023 season.

Adeleye would be able to help replace some of the depth that Texas is set to lose along the defensive front including senior defensive lineman Moro Ojomo and senior edge rusher Ovie Oghoufo.

In terms of the defensive scheme fit and the positional need, there’s a lot that makes sense about Texas as a possible destination for Adeleye out of the portal.

And from what we heard about the strides he was making coming out of fall camp, it looked like Adeleye was primed for a breakout 2022 season. Unfortunately, though, Adeleye’s 2022 season came to an end before it really began after he seemingly dealt with injury after injury this fall.

Despite coming out of camp as one of the starters at defensive end for the Aggies, Adeleye took just 64 defensive snaps over the course of two games this season.

The 6-foot-4 and 290-pound Adeleye will enter the portal with at least three years of eligibility remaining, depending on how his redshirt situation plays out following the conclusion of this season.

Adeleye finished up the 2022 season with six combined tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, no sacks, four quarterback pressures, three QB hits, and six stops, in the two games he played for the Aggies. If he can stay healthy during the 2023 season, he should be a breakout player to watch at his next destination.