Texas Longhorns Targeted Oregon Ducks Safety in Transfer Portal

The Texas Longhorns were among an elite group of finalists for one of the Oregon Ducks' offseason transfer portal additions.

Nov 18, 2023; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns were apparently in the final running for one of the transfer portal's top safeties earlier this offseason.

During a recent appearance on the Ducks of a Feather podcast, Oregon Ducks safety Dillon Thieneman said that the Longhorns were among his top five choices after he elected to enter the portal following two years at Purdue.

Thieneman eventually committed to the Ducks in December and is now seen as one of Oregon's top transfer additions headed into 2025.

"Obviously Oregon, and then there was Ohio State, there was Penn State, and I was talking to Georgia and Texas," Thieneman said when asked about his top five.

All five programs made it to the inaugural 12-team College Football in 2024, with Ohio State beating Oregon and Texas before winning it all over Notre Dame.

Dillon Thieneman's top 5 portal offers🤧#collegefootball #transferportal #cfb #oregonfootball pic.twitter.com/6TB2gT0vZL
— Ducks of a Feather (@ducksofafeather) June 3, 2025

Thieneman would have been a major addition to Texas' secondary. Last season at Purdue, he had a team-leading 104 total tackles while adding six pass breakups and one sack. Thieneman didn't have an interception this past season after having six picks as a freshman in 2023 but still showed why he was one of the Big Ten's top defensive players despite being on a woeful Purdue team.

Though the Longhorns weren't able to land Thieneman, they secured portal commits from Cal tight end Jack Endries, Troy quarterback Matthew Caldwell, Texas State kicker Mason Shipley, Stanford wide receiver Emmett Mosley V, Arkansas linebacker Brad Spence and Utah punter Jack Bouwmeester along with defensive lineman in Maryland's Lavon Johnson, Syracuse's Maraad Watson, North Carolina's Travis Shaw, Purdue's Cole Brevard and Ohio State's Hero Kanu.

Oregon was seen by some as a potential landing spot for former Texas wide receiver Johntay Cook II in the portal before he committed to Washington. Cook II eventually parted ways with the Huskies before committing to Syracuse.

As for Thieneman, he and the Ducks will begin the regular season on Aug. 30 against Montana State. Texas will start the 2025 campaign against Oregon's new Big Ten rival, Ohio State.