Boston College Football True Freshman DL Returning for 2026 Season

The Eagles have lost four defensive linemen to the transfer portal since the 2025 season ended.

Jared Shuster / Boston College football (bceagles.com)

Those who have kept up with the Boston College football team lately are well aware of the mass exodus from the program that occurred in the weeks leading up the transfer portal officially opening on Friday morning.

Since the end of the 2025 season, in which the Eagles mustered a 2-10 record after reaching the seven-win mark one season prior, 24 players from last year’s roster decided to enter the portal.

The list of departures includes key young talent that third-year head coach Bill O’Brien could have built around for the 2026 campaign, such as quarterbacks Dylan Lonergan and Shaker Reisig, wide receiver Reed Harris, running back Turbo Richard, linebacker Daveon “Bam” Crouch, and defensive back Omar Thornton.

While retention for the Eagles this offseason has been practically nonexistent, freshman defensive lineman Israel Oladipupo — who was recruited to the Heights as a top-30 recruit from the state of Indiana in the summer — took to Instagram on Friday to announce his decision to return to Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Oladipupo saw action in seven games as a reserve defensive end last season, totaling two tackles — both against Fordham in the Eagles’ Week One massacre of the Rams. 

Prior to BC, the 6-foot-2, 242-pound Indianapolis, Ind., native totaled over 130 tackles, 12 quarterback hurries, and 14.5 tackles for loss over his final two seasons at Noblesville High School. Oladipupo additionally registered 217 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on offense as a senior.

So far, a total of four former defensive linemen — Edwin Kolenge, Ty Clemons, Sterling Sanders, and Jayden Fry — entered the portal since the 2025 season ended. But BC’s defensive line that is still intact for the 2026 season, apart from Oladipupo, consists of Josiah Griffin, Favor Bate, Cadan Bowling, Bryce Lewis, Chris Marable Jr., E’LIa Boykin, Micah Amedee, Makai Byerson, Jayzen Flint, and Clive Wilson Jr.

The Eagles also carry five defensive linemen in their 2026 high school class — Mac Fitzgerald, Mason Leak, Dominic Funke, Gavin Neil, and Jackson Carlisle — so there is, at the very least, some hope for the future of the program in that department.

Still, recruiting players out of the transfer portal to rebuild BC’s interior defense will be crucial over the offseason.

In 2025, the Eagles recorded just 17 sacks overall, which is far below FBS average. Sedarius McConnell, who declared for the 2026 NFL Draft on Dec. 30, led the team in sacks with 2.5.