Portal Losses, One Year Later: Which former Longhorns starred or sunk at new stops?

How did Texas's over 20 portal departures last year in the portal cycle fare for the 2024 season?

Jalen Catalon
Jalen Catalon | Ethan Miller/GettyImages
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Last offseason, Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian did a nice job of avoiding any major player losses to the NCAA Transfer Portal during the winter and spring transfer windows. Only a handful of players who started games for Texas during the 2023 season had transferred out of the program this past offseason.

While the transfer portal is always a two-way street, Sarkisian and the Longhorns staff definitely benefitted more from their additions to the portal compared to what was lost to departures. Texas added immediate-impact starters to both sides of the ball, including senior safety Andrew Mukuba, junior edge rusher Trey Moore, and junior wide receivers Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond, among many others, to upgrade the roster in key areas from the transfer portal.

Texas also lost around two dozen players to the transfer portal last offseason. Here's a look at how those Longhorns transfer departures from last offseason have fared at their new schools in 2024.

Kendrick Blackshire, LB (UTSA)

Linebacker Kendrick Blackshire's time at Texas was very short lived. He transferred to Texas after spending three seasons with the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC before spring ball last offseason.

Due to competition for reps on the two-deep depth chart at the linebacker position, Blackshire transferred to the UTSA Roadrunners after spring camp. Blackshire played three games for the Roadrunners this season, including in Week 3 against the Longhorns at DKR, where he registered one tackle.

Blackshire didn't play any games the rest of the 2024 season for UTSA after the loss to Texas in Week 3.

Verdict: Sunk

Austin Jordan, CB (TCU)

Texas landed four-star defensive back recruit from Denton (TX) Ryan, Austin Jordan, over the Oklahoma Sooners and Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2022 class. Jordan was a big win for the Longhorns over the Sooners on the trail a few cycles ago.

Jordan was a rotational DB for Texas's secondary for two seasons before he transferred to TCU last offseason. He was a significant contributor to TCU's secondary this season, playing over 250 defensive snaps as a rotational corner for the Frogs' defense.

The 2024 season saw Jordan post the best defensive grade of his collegiate career at TCU (per PFF).

Verdict: Starred

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