Adam Loewy is one of the top personal injury lawyers in Austin. Adam is a proud graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and started his law firm in 2005. Adam helps people who have been injured in car crashes, slip and falls, dog bites, and other assorted ways. He is actively involved in every case he handles and is always available to talk or text. If you or a loved one has been injured, call the Loewy Law Firm today at (512) 280-0800.
The transfer portal experience for Longhorn fans right now feels a lot like walking the midway at the Texas State Fair after a win over Oklahoma. Everyone spills out of the Cotton Bowl in a great mood, high-fiving strangers in burnt orange, chanting “OU sucks,” and laughing at opposing fans still wearing overalls. Maybe you swing by Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs for something familiar. Maybe you grab a beer and soak in another Saturday victory, something that has become increasingly routine under Steve Sarkisian, who now seems to deliver an annual belt-to-*** performance against Oklahoma coach Brent Venables. Eventually, though, you play one last game, pack up the souvenirs, hit the road, and enjoy the moment while already looking ahead to next year.
That is where Texas finds itself with the transfer portal.
The Longhorns are hovering near the exit doors of this year’s portal season. The heavy lifting is mostly done. The deadline to enter the portal passed on January 16, and any new names that appear are likely to come from Miami or Indiana. What this cycle reinforced is how difficult it has become to convince elite players to leave comfortable situations. Some guys are content. And if the money being offered by their current school is even in the same ballpark as another deal, many would rather stay put than hire movers, take the flatscreen off the wall, and leave their girlfriend behind.
Maybe Texas lands an elite offensive lineman before pushing through those exit doors. If not, the Longhorns may be left grabbing a last-minute souvenir on the walk out toward Parry Avenue.
Texas’ portal activity began slowly. Players exited the program for a variety of reasons, but most of it came down to value. Several players wanted more money than Texas believed their 2025 production justified. If another program was willing to pay more, Texas refused to get dragged into a bidding war. That approach led to a quiet start before momentum eventually picked up. By the time Cam Coleman committed, Texas had assembled what could reasonably be described as one of the best transfer portal classes in the country.
Even so, many Longhorn fans are still waiting to see whether Texas addresses its most important remaining need, a position we will get to later in this column. Outside of the spot that has turned Kyle Flood into the most discussed assistant coach of the offseason, the fan base is largely satisfied with how Texas navigated the portal.
Which means it is time to hand out Transfer Portal grades.
Let’s begin by revisiting Sarkisian’s mission statement before the portal opened:
“I think the offensive line is something that we’re going to address in the portal,” Sarkisian recently said. “An interior defensive lineman is something we’ll address in the portal. Potentially a linebacker, potentially something in the secondary, potentially a running back. I mean, there are needs there that we’re going to address.
“But again, do they fit us? Do they fit us physically in the style in which we want to play? Do they fit us culturally, from a character standpoint? And that’s the homework that we need to do to get that done.
“And so, again, the transfer portal is great. Like I said, it fills needs for us. But at the end of the day, when you really look at us year in and year out, the bulk of what we do is in high school recruiting.
“Going into this year, we were one of the younger football teams in the country. We knew that going into the season. We knew there were going to be growing pains. And going into next year, I think we’re going to see the benefits of that.
“We had a lot of young players, first- and second-year players, play for us this year that are going to be a lot better players next year. So we’re going to grow up again, and we’ll become a veteran football team again. You’re just going to have years like this when maybe you’re a little bit younger, and that’s okay.”
Now, take a look at the Longhorns’ transfer portal activity graphic:
To read the grades, click here (premium content):
https://forums.orangebloods.com/index.php?threads/the-sunday-pulpit-via-loewy-law-firm-transfer-portal-grades.446284/
