2025 3-star cornerback Caleb Chester has officially entered the transfer portal according Horns247.com.
Chester was ranked as the No.122 CB in the 2024 recruiting cycle, and he chose Texas over the likes of LSU, Florida, and Oregon.
Though he undoubtedly has the potential to grow into a solid P4 contributor, he was buried on the depth chart behind fellow true freshmen phenoms Graceson Littleton and Kade Phillips in 2025. Littleton ended up taking over as the starting nickel in the summer and never looked back, looking like a legitimate star in the making for the Longhorns.
As reported on Horns247 earlier, freshman CB Caleb Chester will enter the transfer portal https://t.co/N5MQI22iJR pic.twitter.com/C4JCHjw9z9
— Horns247 (@Horns247) January 2, 2026
Phillips had sort of an up-and-down season as a true freshman, but he got a lot better as the season went along, earning multiple starts down the stretch. Phillips is incredibly aggressive against the run as well, consistently making great hits and tackles when triggering downhill.
There just isn't enough room in Austin for a player like Chester, who probably needs another year or two to develop and learn instead of being able to jump in and contribute right away in 2026. It's hard for any player to compete for playing time at a program like Texas, and being a 3-star recruit at a position that's already chock-full of talent doesn't help.
It's fairly easy to see why Chester has chosen to look elsewhere in 2026, and he'll undoubtedly have a lot of suitors in the portal.
As with every player who decides to leave Texas, we wish him nothing but the best wherever he ends up going.