Texas Football Earns High Marks For 2025 Offseason

There's no doubt that the Texas Longhorns lost a lot of talent this offseason between 12 NFL Draft picks, several undrafted free agents, and the many transfer portal departures.

However, Steve Sarkisian has brought the Longhorns back to being an elite program, and like an elite program, they survived those departures and arguably came out stronger on the other side.

Texas added some very strong talent via the transfer portal, including tight end Jack Endries (Cal) and defensive tackle Maraad Watson (Syracuse). Sarkisian and co. also assembled one of the best recruiting classes in the country, featuring safety (and dual-sport athlete) Jonah Williams and defensive tackle Justus Terry.

Texas Longhorns head football coach Steve Sarkisian poses with pitcher Jonah Williams ahead of a game against Texas A&M. | Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As a result, ESPN ranked the Longhorns' offseason as the fourth-best in the SEC, trailing only LSU, Oklahoma and Auburn. The outlet used three different criteria in its rankings: retention of key players who weren't eligible for the NFL Draft, retention of coaches and staff members, and player additions via the transfer portal and high school recruiting.

"This has been a smooth offseason in a lot of ways for Sarkisian and his staff entering Year 5," ESPN wrote. "The Longhorns finished with ESPN's No. 1 ranked recruiting class, inking 17 ESPN 300 prospects and closing by winning a battle with Georgia for Terry, the No. 8 overall recruit. They dealt with minimal roster attrition and had no trouble addressing their few remaining needs in the portal. The staff boosted depth up front with five new D-linemen, found a new No. 1 tight end in Endries and upgraded on special teams with kicker Mason Shipley (Texas State) and punter Jack Bouwmeester (Utah) coming in.

"A school-record 12 draft picks -- and 23 over the past two years -- show how far this program has come in four years under Sarkisian. Now the pressure is on to go play for a national title."

Again, the Longhorns' offseason hasn't been perfect. They still lost 13 players who started in their Cotton Bowl loss to Ohio State, and making up for those losses won't be easy by any means.

Still, this is very much a team that can compete for a national title this season, and that is worthy of praise in the volatile world of modern college football.