Texas Longhorns Make Major Roster Move With DL Justus Terry

The Texas Longhorns are making a notable roster move following the close of the transfer portal window.

After re-signing defensive lineman Alex January along with securing the return of Hero Kanu, the Longhorns are once again addressing their defensive line with a key roster retention.

And in the process, Texas potentially prevented one of its SEC rivals from swooping in.

Texas Longhorns Re-Sign Justus Terry

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on during warm ups prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Per reports from OnTexasFootball, the Longhorns have signed defensive lineman Justus Terry to a new deal for the 2026 season, ending any of the small speculation that he could potentially transfer.

Reports had surfaced from On3 that the Georgia Bulldogs intended to heavily pursue Terry if he had entered the portal. A product of Manchester, GA., he had originally been committed to Georgia as a five-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class before flipping to the Longhorns, citing a notable NIL deal as being one of the differences.

This made Georgia a clear team to watch in the event that Terry intended to transfer, but Steve Sarkisian and the coaching locked things down.

Terry entered the offseason set to be major piece of the defensive line in 2026, but considering the massive amount of roster movement across college football, there was guarantee that the Longhorns could prevent Terry from entering the portal.

But with the portal window officially closed on Friday, Texas made sure to get a deal done with Terry just in time to keep him in Austin for another season.

Terry, who played in nine games during his true freshman season this year, didn't suit up in Texas' Citrus Bowl win over Michigan as he reportedly dealt with a shoulder injury. This certainly made some Longhorns fans feel speculative about the possibility of him entering the portal prior to the game after multiple players had already exited to the portal.

Terry made his collegiate debut during non-conference play against San Jose State. His best performance came in the 35-10 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs when he had four total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

He finished the regular season with eight total tackles (four solo), though it was performance against Georgia that really stood out.

Sarkisian said after the loss to the Bulldogs that he was "really proud" of Terry for the way he continued to improve in the weeks leading up to the Georgia game.

"Yeah, I'm really proud of Justus, he has really come on," Sarkisian said. "You know, from where he was a couple of months ago to where he is today. It's a credit to his work ethic, and a credit to coach (Kenny) Baker and the work that they put in."