3 last-minute transfers Texas football can target this spring
Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian has brought in another quality NCAA Transfer Portal haul this offseason. Texas has added 11 immediate impact transfers since the start of the offseason, including three during the spring portal window.
Identifying potential late-spring portal targets at key spots for Texas football
Sarkisian and staff have placed a greater emphasis on adding quality and experienced players from the transfer portal this offseason compared to year's past. Compared to last offseason, the Longhorns have signed over twice the number of transfers in this portal cycle.
Texas only took five transfers last offseason. But a combination of greater roster attrition on the two-deep along with some late-spring portal departures meant the Longhorns had positions of need to address in greater numbers than last year.
Most of the action in the transfer portal for the Longhorns is in the rearview mirror for this spring. But Texas does still have a few scholarship spots remaining before they hit the roster limit of 85.
Defensive tackle, linebacker, and defensive back depth along with adding an experienced punter are all ways the Longhorns can utilize their final scholarship spots late this spring.
Here are three last-minute portal additions the Longhorns could target this month.
Kodi DeCambra, S
The Oregon Ducks were one of the most aggressive programs pursuing top talent in large quantities in the transfer portal this offseason. Oregon added many high-profile names from the portal, especially on the defensive side of the ball, to bolster its roster for the Big Ten in 2024.
Part of the cost of head coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks adding all this talent from the portal this offseason at key positions was the roster attrition that followed. Oregon's 14 portal commitments was offset by 20 portal departures, including a handful since the conclusion of spring ball in the last few weeks.
One of the most talented underclassmen the Ducks lost to the portal on the defensive side of the ball this spring was freshman safety Kodi DeCambra. The uber-athletic 6-foot and 190-pound safety from Hawaii has all four years of eligibility remaining after playing just six snaps in one game in Oregon's season opener against FCS Portland in 2023.
The former four-star recruit from Las Vegas (NV) Bishop Gorman High School was named among the 50 "freakiest college football recruits" in the 2023 class by 247Sports.
DeCambra was recruited hard out of high school by new Texas co-DC/LB coach Johnny Nansen during his time at Arizona and UCLA before that. Pete Kwiatkowski also loves to recruit these ultra-athletic and versatile defensive backs from the west coast and Hawaii.
The upside to Texas taking a flier out on DeCambra is pretty clear. His athletic traits are off the charts, as he posted a 42-inch vertical jump 4.5-second 40-yard dash time, and a 6.3-second 3 cone drill time as a middle schooler at the Opening Regional Combine in 2019.
DeCambra also fits the mould of what Texas looks for in its defensive backs, with the versatility to cross-train at multiple positions in the secondary.
The potential downside here for Texas is that the Longhorns already have a lot of young talent in the secondary. Texas signed the best defensive back recruiting class in the nation during the 2024 cycle, which included a whopping six blue-chip prospects in the secondary. Numbers are already pretty tight for future projected rosters for Texas's defensive backfield.