The college football transfer portal window has officially closed, with spring practice around the corner. Nearly 4,000 FBS players entered the transfer portal in January, working to find homes as top programs rebuild their rosters in under a month for the 2026 season.
On3 is breaking down the teams that won the college football transfer portal:
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Lane Kiffin held the transfer portal king title at Ole Miss. He hasn’t missed a beat since arriving at LSU in December, as LSU has given him the war chest to assemble one of the top portal classes this offseason. He restocked the Tigers’ talent pool with three of the top five players in the transfer portal, according to the On3 Industry Transfer Portal Ranking. Kiffin battled Tennessee and Miami to land the quarterback he wanted in Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt. Despite coming off a season-ending injury, the hope is that time with Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will only elevate his game.
Kiffin also landed the top offensive tackle in the portal to protect Leavitt in Colorado’s Jordan Seaton. Competing with Miami and Oregon down to the final hours of Seaton’s commitment, Kiffin won out. The 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive tackle earned All-Big 12 second-team honors in 2025 and is widely considered one of the top prospects for the 2027 NFL draft.
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Ole Miss’ Princewill Umanmielen was the top-ranked EDGE in the portal and gives Kiffin one of the top pass rushers in the sport. Kiffin completely restructured the wide receiver room, bringing in Eugene Wilson III (Florida), Jayce Brown (Kansas State), Tre’ Brown III (Old Dominion) and Winston Watkins (Ole Miss). He also added depth and young talent to the quarterback room behind Leavitt, notably former five-star recruit Husan Longstreet, who has four years of eligibility remaining, transferring in from USC. Ohio State’s Faheem Delane and Boise State’s Ty Benefield are notable additions in the secondary.
Curt Cignetti has leaned on scouting and evaluation in the transfer portal to win immediately at Indiana. He brought James Madison players with him in Year 1, and last offseason, he scouted the quarterback market and landed on Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy and led the Hoosiers to a national title in 2025.
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Cignetti is only picking up momentum heading into Year 3. The Hoosiers have added TCU starting quarterback Josh Hoover, a 31-game starter who will step in for Mendoza. Michigan State wide receiver Nick Marsh comes in and will be an ideal replacement for Elijah Sarratt, with Charlie Becker returning. The 6-foot-3, 203-pound Marsh gives Hoover a big target in the passing game who can stretch the field. He’s posted 100 career catches for 1,311 yards. Tulane transfer receiver Shazz Preston is also coming in off a 43-catch season.
The Hoosiers have added BC running back Turbo Richard to replace production in the backfield. He rushed for 962 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025. Wisconsin All-Big Ten offensive lineman Joe Brunner will come in and start immediately at guard, and Penn State cornerback A.J. Harris gives the Hoosiers an experienced addition to a secondary losing D’Angelo Ponds. Indiana also added Kansas State EDGEs Tobi Osunsanmi and Chiddi Obiazor, Notre Dame EDGE Joshua Burnham and Tulsa defensive lineman Joe Hjelle in the front seven.
Full Texas Tech transfer class
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A year ago, billionaire booster Cody Campbell and Texas Tech went all-in on the portal with a vision of winning a Big 12 title and making the College Football Playoff. The Red Raiders accomplished that in 2025, and they’ve only reloaded again in the transfer portal.
The biggest win of the portal cycle for Joey McGuire’s program was landing Cincinnati transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby. Despite taking a visit to LSU following his trip to Lubbock, Sorsby picked the Red Raiders and gives them a three-year starter who will elevate the offense.
Texas Tech has not shied away from paying a premium on the line of scrimmage, and this year was no different. The Red Raiders have to replace EDGEs David Bailey and Romello Height, along with leading tackler Jacob Rodriguez. They added Wake Forest defensive lineman Mateen Ibirogba, who was widely considered the top defensive tackle in the portal. EDGEs Trey White (San Diego State) and Adam Trick (Miami, Ohio) have 32.5 career combined sacks. Kansas State linebacker Austin Romaine comes in and fills the void left by Rodriguez; the two-time All-Big 12 selection has 184 career tackles, 3.5 sacks and an interception.
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As the Hurricanes were marching their way to the College Football Playoff national title game, they were also putting in the work to reload in the transfer portal. Miami landed its biggest portal win of the cycle on Tuesday night, landing Duke quarterback Darian Mensah. It’s the third consecutive cycle that Mario Cristobal has gone out and landed one of the top available quarterbacks.
The Hurricanes brought in Mensah’s leading wide receiver at Duke, Cooper Barkate, along with South Carolina’s Vandrevius Jacobs and West Virginia’s Cam Vaughn. Missouri EDGE Damon Wilson will have an immediate impact with Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor’s NFL departures. The former Georgia transfer finished third in the SEC in 2025 with nine sacks and led the Tigers with 12 quarterback hurries.
Boston College safety Omar Thornton will be a Day 1 starter, coming off a season with 82 tackles, four forced fumbles and an interception. Oregon State safety Conrad Hussey is another secondary pickup, while Nebraska defensive lineman Keona Davis will be expected to contribute.
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Steve Sarkisian and Texas fell short of making the College Football Playoff in 2025, but the Longhorns reloaded in the transfer portal to have them ready to compete in Arch Manning’s second year as the starter. Of all the wins Texas landed in the portal, none were bigger than beating out Alabama, Texas A&M and Texas Tech for Auburn transfer wide receiver Cam Coleman. He’s an instant impact player who gives Manning another weapon with Ryan Wingo in the passing game.
On the defensive side of the ball, Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles is an All-American-level talent. He’s twice earned All-ACC honors and led the league this season with 17 tackles for loss. Texas addressed a major need at running back, adding Arizona State’s Raleek Brown and flipping NC State transfer Hollywood Smothers from Alabama. Rutgers cornerback Bo Mascoe is viewed as an immediate contributor after posting two forced fumbles and an interception in 2025.
The Longhorns did not land Jordan Seaton, but retooled the offensive line by adding Laurance Seymore (Western Kentucky), Melvin Siani (Wake Forest), Jonte Newman (Texas A&M) and Dylan Sikorski (Oregon State).
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Viewed as one of the early teams to watch for Cam Coleman, the Aggies landed a visit from the Auburn transfer. But they hedged their bets by going all-in on Alabama transfer wide receiver Isaiah Horton, landing a key piece to their offense to pair with Mario Craver. The former Miami transfer posted 42 catches for 511 yards in 2025 and gives quarterback Marcel Reed another option in the passing game.
The Aggies committed to adding talent to the line of scrimmage in the portal. Texas A&M was aggressive, adding Northwestern EDGE Anto Saka, San Diego State EDGE Ryan Henderson, Colorado defensive lineman Brandon Davis-Swain, North Carolina defensive lineman C.J. Mims and Illinois defensive lineman Angelo McCullom. They also brought in experienced talent on the offensive line in LSU’s Coen Echols, South Carolina’s Trovon Baugh, LSU’s Tyree Adams and Alabama’s Wilkin Formby.
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With Lane Kiffin leaving Ole Miss before the first round of the College Football Playoff, new head coach Pete Golding had time to prepare a plan for the transfer portal. The two biggest offseason wins for Golding were retaining quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, but the Rebels also restocked plenty.
The Rebels landed former five-star recruit and Auburn transfer quarterback Deuce Knight, who has four years of eligibility remaining. His pickup is key if Chambliss’ NCAA waiver appeal fails and he doesn’t win his eligibility lawsuit in Mississippi.
Golding restocked his defense with Florida State safety Edwin Joseph and Georgia safety Joenel Aguero. Auburn cornerback Jay Crawford, Baylor linebacker Keaton Thomas, Nevada EDGE Jonathan Maldonado, Colorado defensive tackle Jehiem Oatis, Florida defensive lineman Michai Boireau, Florida cornerback Sharif Denson, Oregon linebacker Blake Purchase and Mississippi State safety Tony Mitchell all have playing experience.
Ole Miss added depth to its offensive line in Miami’s Tommy Kinsler, LSU’s Carius Curne, Florida’s
Enoch Wangoy and Oklahoma’s Troy Everett. Chambliss will have two new targets in the passing game with Syracuse wide receivers Johntay Cook and Darrell Gill. The Rebels also made sure to add talent behind Lacy at running back, bringing in Michigan State’s Makhi Frazier, Southern Utah’s Joshua Dye and LSU’s JT Lindsey.
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Full Penn State transfer class
With James Franklin’s firing and multiple Penn State players following him to Virginia Tech, Matt Campbell was going to have to rebuild the Nittany Lions’ roster for the 2026 season. He accomplished that, bringing in 37 new players. Campbell brought in a familiar name at quarterback with Iowa State’s Rocco Becht. He’s a 39-game starter who can handle the transition between coaches and get Penn State competing in the Big Ten.
In total, Campbell brought 23 Iowa State players with him to Happy Valley. That group, which includes standout tight end Benjamin Brahmer, safety Marcus Neal and cornerback Jeremiah Cooper, gives Campbell a core of experienced talent to lean on who know the system and culture he is trying to build. Penn State landed other notable additions, too. Ohio State running back James Peoples will be one of the featured backs in 2026 for the Nittany Lions. Texas State standout offensive lineman Brock Riker will come in and compete for the starting center job.
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Full Oklahoma State transfer class
Like Matt Campbell at Penn State, Eric Morris had to hit reset when he arrived at Oklahoma State. In total, the former North Texas head coach brought in 54 new players. He was able to secure his North Texas quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, who received significant interest from top-25 programs but decided to follow his coach to Stillwater. He’s coming off a breakout redshirt freshman season, where he threw for 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns. He’s expected to elevate the Oklahoma State offense in Year 1 under Morris.
The quarterback will have his star running back, Caleb Hawkins, with him in the backfield. As a true freshman in 2025, Hawkins rushed for 1,434 yards while leading the FBS with 25 rushing touchdowns. The True Freshman All-American, paired with Mestemaker, will look to revamp the Oklahoma State offense.
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Morris didn’t stop at just adding North Texas transfers. Other notable pickups for the Cowboys include wide receivers Justin Bowick (Illinois), Chris Barnes (Wake Forest) and Israel Polk (Akron). Florida State EDGE James Williams is expected to build on his 8.5 career sacks.
Full Virginia Tech transfer class
Expectations are already high that James Franklin can win quickly at Virginia Tech and have the Hokies back in the national conversation. He’s showing that could happen as early as 2026, adding 25 new players to reload the roster.
His Penn State quarterback, Ethan Grunkemeyer, followed him to Blacksburg. He stepped in for Penn State following Drew Allar’s season-ending injury and went 4-3, flashing talent that Franklin will look to build on. He will have a top target in tight end Luke Reynolds, who posted 26 catches for 257 yards in 2025 at Penn State.
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The Hokies also added pieces on the defensive side of the ball. Troy cornerback Jaquez White will be a leader in the secondary, coming off a three-interception season. Missouri EDGE Javion Hilson has four years of eligibility remaining, and the 6-foot-4, 246-pound pass rusher will be expected to take the next step in his game at Virginia Tech.
