Grading every portal addition for Texas football this spring
Bill Norton, DL
Defensive tackle was the biggest position of need Sarkisian and the Longhorns staff wanted to address in the transfer portal this spring. The first defensive tackle Texas added from the portal during the spring window that will immediately boost the depth and sturdiness of the interior defensive line rotation this coming fall is senior grad transfer, Bill Norton.
Sarkisian specifically noted this spring that adding "big humans" was a priority for the 2024 season.
The former Arizona Wildcats and Georgia Bulldogs transfer Norton joined new co-DC/LB coach Johnny Nansen on his move from Tucson, AZ, to Austin, TX, with the Longhorns' defense. Norton played one season as Arizona's starting nose tackle for Nansen in 2023.
Norton fills multiple needs for the Texas defensive line entering the inaugural season in the SEC in 2024. He brings that proven experience with valuable live-game snaps over the football playing on multiple Power Five defensive lines at Arizona and Georgia during his five-year collegiate career.
The 6-foot-6 and 325-pound Norton is a big body who is likely to take at least 20 or 25 defensive snaps per game playing in a true nose tackle technique for Texas's interior defensive line rotation.
Norton will immediately become Texas's most experienced tackle in the rotation of guys playing the A-gap entering the 2024 season. It's big for the Longhorns to have the ability to be a little bit more patient with the development of other big bodies playing the A-gap like redshirt freshman Sydir Mitchell and sophomore Aaron Bryant.