How Are These Former Greenies Doing After the Transfer Portal?
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By Request
We asked on social media what story you, the reader, would like to hear about. Redditor Ok_Difficulty7129 asked us to check up on those Tulane football players who have left the program for what they hoped would be greener pastures. We probably won't get everyone, so if we missed anyone in particular from last season you're interested in, just let us know by emailing us: varsvarsteeay@gmail.com. Here, in no particular order, are those who left after the 2024 season.
Tight End Alex Bauman
Bauman left after his junior year at Tulane. His numbers last season were good: 20-catches, 212-yards, and seven touchdowns, not as impressive as his sophomore season when the New Jersey native hauled in 33-for-273-yards and five touchdowns. His big catch was his freshman year in the Cotton Bowl against USC.
Bauman transferred to Miami to play his final season for the Hurricanes. He has seen action in six games for Miami this year, gathering ten catches for 68-yards and a touchdown.
Running Back Makhi Hughes
Amongst the biggest names to leave was running back Makhi Hughes. In 2024, the redshirt sophomore from Birmingham accumulated 1,401-yards on 265-carries, 15-touchdowns on the ground with his longest a 50-yard sprint. Hughes was dangerous out of the backfield, too, grabbing 19-passes for 176-yards and a couple of scores. Here are some of his highlights from his last year in a Tulane uniform.
Hughes transferred to Oregon to where he saw limited action with the Ducks. According to reports here ON SI Tulane, he was guaranteed $1-million. He played in four games for the Quackers earlier this year, gaining 70-yards on 17-carries. He asked Oregon for and has been granted a redshirt year as a junior.
Quarterback Darian Mensah
Maybe the biggest move was quarterback Darian Mensah. The freshman from San Luis Obispo, CA went 189-for-287 for 2,723-yards and 22-touchdowns while tossing six interceptions in his one season under center. He also ran for 132-yards on 60-tries with a TD. These are some of his highlights in the olive green and blue.
Mensah entered the transfer portal before Tulane's bowl game in 2024. His deal with Duke was reported here ON SI Tulane to be worth around $8 million over two years, making him the highest-paid college football player at the time. He has had a good season with the Blue Devils, passing for 3,007-yards, 25-touchdowns and only four interceptions, giving him a quarterback rating of 159.9 for the year. Mensah did return to a sold out Yulman Stadium in September of this season with his new team, but fell to his old one, 34-27.
Kicker Ethan Head
Placekicker Ethan Head was in New Orleans for a year. The freshman from West Chicago hit 4-out-of-5 field goals, his longest a 38-yarder against Louisiana in September, 2024. Head mostly handled kickoffs for the Wave, sending 50-of-his-77 kicks into touchback land. After seeing no action kicking field goals from the Rice game onward, Head transferred to West Virginia where he is their kickoff specialist, putting four of his 26-kickoffs into the end zone. Head has yet to attempt a field goal or an extra point for the Mountaineers.
Quarterback Kai Horton
QB Horton played in at least one game in four straight years for the Green Wave. After signing directly out of Carthage, TX high school, Horton saw limited playing time. He played in four games in his true freshman year, 2021, four more in 2022, five games in 2023, then one game in mop up duty against Southeastern in 2024. Horton transferred to Washington to finish his collegiate playing days. The senior Husker has appeared in two games, mostly at the end of contests. He's gone 5-or-8 passing for 87-yards, no touchdowns. He's also rushed the ball 6-times for 29-yards and two TDs.
Running Back Shaadie Clayton-Johnson
Clayton-Johnson, a product of New Orleans' own Warren Easton, began his collegiate career at Colorado in 2020. He played in seven games over two seasons for the Buffaloes, transferring to Tulane in 2022. Clayton-Johnson played in 12-games that season, sat out 2023, then played in twelve more games in 2024, before leaving Tulane. He signed on with North Texas, but left the program shortly after Spring practice. He signed in mid-September of this year with Southern Methodist University and has seen limited action in six games, carrying the ball five times for 21-yards and a touchdown for the Mustangs.
Bandit Matthew Fobbs-White
Fobbs-White signed with Tulane out of Neville High School in Monroe, LA. He saw limited action in six games as a freshman tallying a couple of tackles in 2023. In his sophomore year, the TU bandit racked up 21-tackles and four sacks. Transferring to Baylor last Spring, Fobbs-White has played in all ten games for the Bears. He has accumulated 15-tackles, one for a loss of five yards.
2026 NCAA Football Transfer Portal Window
The 2026 NCAA college football transfer portal opens on January 2, 2026, and closes on January 16, 2026. This is a new, single window for the FBS and FCS, replacing the previous two-window system. Players on teams in the College Football Playoff will have an exception, able to enter the portal in a five-day window that begins after their final postseason game.
So, to wrap up: the portal will be open for a single, 15-day period from January 2 to January 16. No spring window. The separate spring transfer window has been eliminated. College Football Playoff exception: Players who compete in the College Football Playoff National Championship game will have a five-day window to enter the portal after their season ends.
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.