In the fast and furious world of the transfer portal, it’s easy to jump to conclusions and make rash judgments about what direction a team is headed.

About a week ago, Texas was in an interesting place. The Longhorns — who finished 13th in the final College Football Playoff rankings, missing out on what would have been a third straight trip into the bracket — were getting more attention for who they were losing than who they were adding. The departures of receivers Quintrevion Wisner, DeAndre Moore, Parker Livingstone, Liona Lefau and a few others left some wondering about Texas’ portal strategy.

But within days, the rhetoric from outside observers went from “What’s going on at Texas?” to “Wow, look at what Texas is doing in the portal!”

The Longhorns had the best weekend of any team in the transfer portal, making a huge splash on Sunday by signing the two best transfers at their respective positions, receiver Cam Coleman and running back Hollywood Smothers.

It capped a strong week for Texas, which added several other impact transfers leading into the weekend, led by Arizona State running back Raleek Brown, Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles and Rutgers cornerback Bo Mascoe.

With Brown, Smothers and Coleman in the fold, Texas will enter the 2026 season with one of, if not the best collection of skill position talent in the country. The message is clear: for what could be quarterback Arch Manning’s final season, the Longhorns are going all-in to get back to the Playoff and make a run at a national championship.

The additions of Brown (1,141 rushing yards in 2025) and Smothers (939) bring in a combined 2,080 rushing yards into the Longhorns’ running game.

Coleman’s numbers were solid (56 catches, 708 yards, five touchdowns) but suffered a bit because of Auburn’s inconsistent quarterback play. Combining Coleman with returning Texas receiver Ryan Wingo (54 catches, 834 yards, seven touchdowns) gives the Longhorns an elite receiver duo that resembles the talent level they had at the position in the 2023 season, when Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell were catching passes from Quinn Ewers.

Texas isn’t done yet, or shouldn’t be, at least. Beefing up the offensive line is still something on the Longhorns’ checklist. That was an area where Texas struggled quite a bit in 2025, particularly in the first half of the season.

They got good news on that front Sunday when starting left tackle Trevor Goosby announced his return. The Longhorns also received a commitment last week from Oregon State left guard transfer Dylan Sikorski — the first scholarship offensive lineman Sarkisian has signed in the transfer portal since he arrived in 2021 — but adding more quality talent up front would go a long way in bolstering that unit to protect Manning better than it did last season.

This month represents the most active Texas has been in the portal since Sarkisian’s arrival. The Longhorns have already landed 13 portal commitments in the first 10 days the portal has been open. The most scholarship transfers they’ve taken in previous offseasons is 11.

The Longhorns have likely spent a pretty penny to bring in the high-level talent they’ve acquired so far. Coleman was expected to command no less than $2 million after entering the portal, and Smothers and Brown likely came in around the top of the market for their position, which agents and general managers have said typically has run in the upper six figures in this portal cycle.

But after making the CFP two straight years, missing out was a disappointment for Texas, especially after entering 2025 as the preseason No. 1 team. Based on their portal activity so far, it looks like the Longhorns are doing what they can to not leave their fortunes to chance in 2026.

QB voids remaining to be filled

Miami, LSU, Ole Miss, Oregon and Tennessee are all operating as if they need a new starting quarterback. Georgia Tech, Virginia and Baylor could potentially need a new QB, too.

Are there enough quality quarterbacks to fill the void? Sam Leavitt (Arizona State transfer) is the top available transfer signal caller. Dylan Raiola (Nebraska) has yet to commit anywhere. Neither has Beau Pribula (Missouri), though like Leavitt, he has visited several programs. Husan Longstreet (USC) entered the portal last week and was a five-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle, so he’s an enticing prospect who is generating some high-profile suitors. DJ Lagway is entertaining Ole Miss’ pursuit even though he’s committed to Baylor. Ethan Grunkemeyer is expected to transfer to Virginia Tech, but hasn’t announced his commitment or signing yet. There are question marks that come with all those quarterbacks.

So it’ll be very interesting to see which direction these quarterbacks go. LSU, Miami and Tennessee have all shown interest in Leavitt, so he’s a crucial piece that could determine the direction of several programs’ plans. Longstreet visited LSU, per reports, but would Lane Kiffin really go into the 2026 season with a talented yet inexperienced player as his starting QB in the SEC? The Tigers did get a commitment on Sunday night from Elon transfer Landen Clark, but that likely won’t stop their pursuit of a more high-profile option

Of course, Dante Moore’s decision of whether to return to school or head to the NFL will impact things as well and could trim down the number of openings.

Notable commitments from the weekend

Several impact players found their 2026 destination in recent days.

• New Florida coach Jon Sumrall had a great week last week when he was able to retain starting running back Jadan Baugh and land his 2026 quarterback, Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo. But it got even better on Saturday when Auburn receiver transfer Eric Singleton committed to the Gators. Singleton was one of the top receivers in the portal last season and re-entered this season after Auburn’s coaching change. Like Coleman, Singleton’s 2025 numbers could have been better with higher-level quarterback play, but there’s no questioning his speed and elusiveness. Philo, Baugh and Singleton is a strong nucleus for Sumrall to build his first Florida offense around.

• Tennessee landed a commitment from Penn State edge rusher Chaz Coleman, one of the more intriguing players in the portal. Coleman was ranked high in both 247Sports and On3’s transfer portal rankings because of his traits. The former four-star recruit is 6-foot-4, 246 pounds with exceptional athleticism and explosiveness and thus garnered attention from high-level programs. But he’s light on experience: Coleman recorded just 183 snaps in nine games as a true freshman for Penn State in 2025. The Vols are undoubtedly thrilled to land him, and it will be interesting to see what his sophomore season looks like as he enters the SEC.

• Texas A&M missed out on the Cam Coleman sweepstakes but was able to bring in a solid SEC receiver transfer in Alabama’s Isaiah Horton. In 2025, Horton led the Crimson Tide with eight touchdown catches, and he offers a contrasting body type (6-4, 208) to the speedy Mario Craver (5-9, 165), who starred for the Aggies last season and is set to return. Quarterback Marcel Reed should once again have a talented receiving corps in Aggieland.

• Kentucky is steadily building a solid portal class under new coach Will Stein. On Saturday, the Wildcats landed a commitment from Tennessee offensive tackle Lance Heard, who was the top uncommitted offensive tackle in the portal heading into the weekend. Heard is a two-year starter and was a third-team All-SEC pick in 2025. Texas running back transfer CJ Baxter committed to Kentucky on Sunday, and earlier this portal cycle they landed Notre Dame transfer quarterback Kenny Minchey and Baylor’s Coleton Price, one of the top interior offensive linemen transfers.

• Penn State tight end transfer Luke Reynolds is the latest Nittany Lion to join his former coach, James Franklin, at Virginia Tech. Reynolds was one of the top tight ends available in the portal and caught 26 passes for 257 yards last season. Reynolds is the eighth Penn State transfer to commit to Franklin and the Hokies.

Three things to watch in the portal’s final week

• Will this be the week that Notre Dame lands its first transfer? We’re about 10 days into this portal window, and the Fighting Irish still have a zero in the transfer column. It looked like Colorado corner transfer DJ McKinney was joining the program, but several reports surfaced on Friday that his signing was rescinded. So Notre Dame is still trying to get on the board. The Fighting Irish have had relatively small transfer classes the past few seasons. They’ve not signed more than nine transfers each of the past two offseasons, but this is a particularly slow start where Notre Dame has missed on some quality targets. So we’ll see if the Fighting Irish can get some positive momentum going this portal season.

• Miami has been a very active participant in the transfer market in the past. They’ve added more than 45 transfers combined over the past three offseasons. But the Hurricanes have been rather quiet during this portal window with only three transfer additions. Miami is playing in the national championship game next Monday, which probably explains its relative silence in the portal so far. We should expect the Hurricanes to make some noise, but it feels like a matter of when — this week or after the title game?

• Here are some of the top uncommitted non-QB transfers who should continue to be monitored this week and for however long it takes them to make a decision: Minnesota safety Koi Perich, Missouri edge rusher Damon Wilson II, Florida State edge rusher Mandrell Desir, Oklahoma State edge rusher Wendell Gregory, Texas receiver DeAndre Moore Jr., Pitt defensive lineman Francis Brewu, Utah cornerback Smith Snowden and Michigan running back Justice Haynes.

• Anybody have any more transfer portal memes? College football’s transient era is often a sore subject among coaches and power brokers, but some social media teams found a little humor — and appealed to prospects — with some creative marketing, starting with UCF’s graphic that touted “no state income tax” for transfers that sign NIL deals with the Knights.

Houston (as well as several of their Texas peers) and UNLV also joined in on the fun, and fans did, too, coming up with a host of creative takes on the UCF graphic. Here’s to hoping more schools find the fun in the transfer portal’s final week.