All Sooners

Oklahoma Earns TE Pledge From the Transfer Portal

The Sooners landed an SEC tight end for their first portal haul of 2026.
Brady Trantham|
Florida tight end Hayden Hansen runs against Florida State
Florida tight end Hayden Hansen runs against Florida State | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this story:

Oklahoma Sooners

The Oklahoma Sooners have added to their offense for 2026.

The University of Florida's Hayden Hansen — who has one year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer — announced his commitment to Oklahoma via his Twitter account.

The 6-8 270-pounder started 33 consecutive games at Florida. Last season he had 30 catches for 254 yards and two touchdowns. In three seasons at Florida, he had 57 catches for 611 yards and five touchdowns.

Hansen is known as a bruising, blocking tight end — something Sooner tight ends struggled with in 2025. He also brings consistency. He has played at least 12 games every season since 2023 for the Gators and provided a glimpse of stability within the shaky tenure of now former Florida head coach Billy Napier.

More Oklahoma Football

Who Will Oklahoma Hire to Replace Tight Ends Coach Joe Jon Finley?
A Pair of Underclassmen Emerged as Stars at Cornerback in 2025
Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock Were Bright Spots in a Frustrating Oklahoma RB Room

Hansen, a redshirt senior in 2026, is from Weatherford, TX just west of Ft. Worth down I-20. He was a three-star recruit per 247Sports out of Weatherford High School. Hansen chose Florida over Colorado and Washington State, among others.

He was ranked as the No. 139 overall prospect in the 247Sports Network's portal player rankings.

Next to retaining talents like John Mateer and Isaiah Sategna on offense, rebuilding the tight end room is a must for Sooners general manager Jim Nagy.

Jaren Kanak's eligibility was extinguished when Oklahoma was eliminated by Alabama in the College Football Playoff. Other tight ends like Kaden Helms and Carson Kent have left the program via the transfer portal.

In 2025, Kanak's abilities as a pass catcher masked the decay of the tight end room — a decay that had festered since the days of Mark Andrews and Brayden Willis. Despite Kanak's play, which earned him Third Team All-SEC honors, the tight end was anything but a strength within the Sooner offense.

Oklahoma Sooners, Joe Jon Finley
Oklahoma tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley | Ryan Chapman / Sooners on SI

This comes a few days after the reported firing of Sooner tight end coach Joe Jon Finley following a five-season stint with is alma mater. It is unclear who Oklahoma is targeting, but there are some names that garner interest due to program ties.

Oklahoma is also recruiting Colorado State tight end Rocky Beers per On3. Beers is the younger brother of current Sooner women's basketball center Raegan Beers.

Published | Modified
Brady Trantham
BRADY TRANTHAM

Brady Trantham covered the Oklahoma City Thunder as the lead Thunder Insider from 2018 until 2021 for 107.7 The Franchise. During that time, Trantham also helped the station as a fill-in guest personality and co-hosted Oklahoma Sooner postgame shows. Trantham also covered the Thunder for the Norman Transcript and The Oklahoman on a freelance basis. He received his BA in history from the University of Oklahoma in 2014 and a BS in Sports Casting from Full Sail University in 2023. Trantham also founded and hosts the “Through the Keyhole” podcast, covering Oklahoma Sooners football. He was born in Oklahoma and raised as an Air Force brat all over the world before returning to Norman and setting down roots there.

Home/Football