Texas football senior defensive tackle Tia Savea is transferring back to the Arizona Wildcats via the winter portal window, he announced on social media on Jan. 15.
Former Texas football, UCLA, and Arizona DL Tia Savea returning to Tucson with the Wildcats for the 2025 season
This comes a little over one month after Savea had announced his plans to enter the transfer portal on Dec. 10. Savea practiced with the Longhorns during the postseason in the College Football Playoff, despite intending to enter the transfer portal in early December.
Savea started his career with the UCLA Bruins in the 2021 season, before transferring to Arizona during the 2022 offseason.
He played two seasons at Arizona in 2022 and 2023 in the defensive tackle rotation for the Wildcats in the Pac-12. Savea followed defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen from Arizona to Texas via the transfer portal last offseason in 2024.
Although he came in as a grad transfer with his former defensive coordinator and defensive line coach from Arizona and UCLA, Savea's role was limited in live-game action for Texas's defensive line rotation this past season in the SEC.
Savea only played a little north of three dozen defensive snaps over three games, registering four combined tackles, one tackle for loss, one quarterback pressure, and two defensive stops.
All of Savea's 37 defensive snaps this season for the Longhorns came in the non-con, in Week 1 against Colorado State, Week 3 against UTSA, and Week 4 against UL-Monroe.
During his two seasons at Arizona, Savea was the most productive and impactful he's been anywhere. He registered 36 combined tackles, eight tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 17 quarterback pressures, 2 QB hits, one batted ball, one fumble recovery, and 18 defensive stops in two years for the Wildcats' defensive front. He also blocked one field goal for Arizona's special teams unit in 2022.
Savea was a highly touted four-star recruit from Las Vegas (NV) Desert Pines High School. He chose to sign with UCLA in the 2021 class over offers from the USC Trojans, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Arizona State Sun Devils, LSU Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers, and Oklahoma Sooners, among many other FBS schools.
He ranked as the No. 226 prospect nationally in the 2021 class in the 247Sports Composite, No. 31 defensive lineman, and No. 3 from Nevada.