Texas had more players leave in the 2026 transfer portal than they're used to, and a handful of them are probably going to end up regretting it for multiple reasons.
Let's take a look at a few of them today:
LB Elijah "Bo" Barnes
Barnes was one of the top linebacker recruits in the 2025 class, and he was undoubtedly in line to see quite a bit of playing time in 2026 with the departures of both Anthony Hill Jr. and Liona Lefau.
Barnes is the prototypical Will Muschamp-thumper at MIKE, and would've most likely been penciled in as a starter alongside Rasheem Biles and Ty'Anthony Smith if he was still with the team right now. Unfortunately for both parties, Barnes decided to follow C.J. Baxter to Kentucky recently.
OG Nate Kibble
Similar to Barnes' potential outlook if he had stayed, Kibble would've been able to contend for a starting spot at left guard heading into the spring. Reports were that the coaching staff was fairly high on Kibble's ability, and this most likely would've meant that he could've been Dylan Sikorski's main competition to start at guard in 2026.
Baylor ended up pouncing on Kibble pretty quickly once he hit the portal on January 3rd.
WR Parker Livingstone
In perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the portal season for Texas, Livingstone decided to depart from his role as the starting "X" receiver at Texas. One of two things probably happened here:
1. He left for a bigger paycheck.
2. Steve Sarkisian and Co. told him behind the scenes that he's not in their "future plans", which happens quite often. This one would be weird though.
It's no secret that Sark and the offensive staff wants to get back to a more vertical passing game this year, and Livingstone would've been a perfect fit for that style of offense. He broke out in 2025 with Arch Manning as the full time starter and it's safe to say that he could've been in for another big year alongside Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman in 2026.