Steve Sarkisian took over the Texas football program in 2021. Since then, he has returned the Horns to the precipice of glory, appearing in two College Football Playoff semifinals and securing a Big 12 title, as well as playing in the 2024 SEC Championship.
However, some of the most notable moments of Sarkisian's tenure with the Texas Longhorns have been in the offseason. Between assistant coach hirings and firings, recruiting wins and losses, and transfer portal pickups and departures, the offseason has never been time off for Sarkisian.
Over the last five years, there have been a lot of recruiting and transfer portal victories, but there have also been a lot of departures and misses that have left an open wound on the Horns' ego.
3 biggest transfer portal losses for Longhorns, Steve Sarkisian
Honorable mention
- Tyler Owens, safety, transferred to Texas Tech Red Raiders
After three years with the Longhorns, safety Tyler Owens entered the transfer portal and took his talents to Lubbock to spend his last two seasons of college football with the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Over those two seasons, he earned 56 total tackles (44 solo), four pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and an interception. He even played in Tech's 37-34 overtime win over the Horns in 2022 before going on to be signed by the Washington Commanders in 2024 as an undrafted free agent.
In 2022, offensive lineman Malik Agbo committed to the Longhorns as a four-star prospect. Then, after three years on the 40 Acres, he transferred to West Virginia in 2025, where he has since earned a dominant role for the Mountaineers.
During his redshirt junior season at WVU, he helped his new team set a season-high of 625 yards in total offense against Robert Morris, including a season-high 393 rushing yards, as well as a season-high 353 passing yards against Arizona State.
The Mountaineers saw a skyrocket in offensive success last season, and Agbo was a part of that. Meanwhile, the Texas offensive line was arguably the biggest question mark on the program. Simply put, his presence was missed at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Over three years with the Horns, running back Keaontay Ingram earned a resounding 1,811 rushing yards for 11 touchdowns, alongside 515 receiving yards for an additional six TDs.
Then, suddenly, after three impressive seasons at Texas, he opted out of his final two games with the team and left the program. He later announced he had entered the transfer portal, and he eventually committed to the USC Trojans.
During his senior season, he earned a career-high 911 rushing yards for five touchdowns, as well as 156 receiving yards for the Trojans. He went on to become a sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and has since played for the Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs.
Ingram didn't set records at USC or Texas, but his production levels were missed during the 2021 season, even as the Horns boasted star running backs Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson.
It was pretty big news for Sarkisian when he landed a commitment from four-star wide receiver Brenen Thompson out of the class of 2022. However, during the wideout's true freshman season, he rode the bench for almost the entire year.
Then, after only seeing one reception at Texas, Thompson transferred to none other than the Oklahoma Sooners. Over two seasons at OU, he earned a respectable 471 receiving yards for four touchdowns.
It wasn't until after he hit the portal once again, landing with the Mississippi State Bulldogs, that the regret truly started to set in for the Horns. During his single season at Mississippi State, Thompson became a breakout star, earning 1,054 receiving yards for six touchdowns, 14 rushing yards for a touchdown, and 44 return yards.
The worst part? When Texas went head-to-head with Mississippi State in a near loss for the Longhorns, Thompson earned 76 receiving yards for two touchdowns against his former team. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, crediting his time with the Sooners and Bulldogs for the player he had become, leaving Texas in the past.
To be determined
This offseason, three major contributors for the Horns left the program to enter the transfer portal, as did former four-star freshman Jaime Ffrench.
- Parker Livingstone, wide receiver, transferred to the Oklahoma Sooners
- DeAndre Moore Jr., wide receiver, transferred to the Colorado Buffaloes
- Jaime Ffrench, wide receiver, transferred to the Michigan Wolverines
- Liona Lefau, linebacker, transferred to the Colorado Buffaloes
Between wide receiver Parker Livingstone leaving for Texas's biggest rivals, the Sooners, and both WR DeAndre Moore Jr. and linebacker Liona Lefau, only time will tell how much these departures lead to regret for the Longhorns.
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