Virginia Lands First Transfer Portal Commitment From Defensive Back At Rival School

The Cavaliers have landed their first transfer portal commitment of the cycle with former Virginia Tech DB Christian Ellis committing to the program

Aug 31, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; New Mexico Lobos safety Christian Ellis (8) celebrates deflecting a catch in front of Arizona Wildcats band The Pride of Arizona during second quarter at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

The Virginia Cavaliers have landed their first commitment of this transfer portal cycle. It was announced this afternoon that former New Mexico and Virginia Tech DB Christian Ellis was committing to UVA.

Virginia has landed a commitment from Virginia Tech defensive back transfer Christian Ellis, his agency @APSportsAgency tells me, @chris_hummer and @CodyNagel247.

Had 99 tackles and an interception at New Mexico in 2024 before transferring to Virginia Tech. pic.twitter.com/GS4WXv3Ysx

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 4, 2026

According to PFF, Ellis played 94 total snaps this season for the Hokies and finished with a 64.1 overall grade. Prior to his time in Blacksburg, Ellis played at New Mexico for three seasons. In 2024, he played a total of 900 snaps and finished with a 70.8 overall grade. In 2023, Ellis 697 snaps and finished with a 55.6 overall grade.

For his career, Ellis has 167 total tackles, 11 pass deflections, and one interception.

At worst, Ellis is going to bring experience to the Cavaliers secondary and he will help replace some key pieces that are no longer on the back end of the defensive.

While this is the first transfer portal commitment for UVA, it will be far from the last.

How will UVA approach the portal?

Dec 27, 2025; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott looks on from the sideline during the third quarter against the Missouri Tigers at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images | Travis Register-Imagn Images

Virginia was a portal heavy team last offseason and it might be the case again this time around.

At his national signing day press conference, UVA head coach Tony Elliott talked about his approach to the portal compared to high school:

"Yeah, so if I'm putting a number on it like I did when I first got here, I don't know if I have the number. I'd say I'm probably now more 50 -50 with just the philosophy. And I will say that this group of young men have really helped me make the transition, just because at first you were a little bit leery, not about the ability to increase the numbers. on your roster, but just the chemistry the buy-in being able to create team and this team has been able to show that you can you can do that. However, I think if we look through college football, we can see that You got to get it right and it's not as easy to get it right as people think. So in order and what we learned that the reason that we were able to make the transition as a team is because we had a really, really good nucleus of guys that were fully bought into the program, understood what the core values are, understood how we were going to do things, and they were able to help the new guys make the transition.So I think in order to do that, you're going to have to have high school guys.

And then you may have to take some, some portal guys with multiple years so that they become embedded in your culture to help you make that transition. But I don't know what the, what the mix is. And to be honest with you, it's going to change from year to year, right? It may be a situation where you see that a, the high school route is, is heavy. this year, less portal, and it could be vice versa.So I don't want to pigeonhole myself. That's what I've learned. Don't put myself in a corner from that standpoint. But I will say that this team and the group of guys that we brought in have helped me to say, you know what? OK, it can be done. But they've also kind of showed me what it looks like and what you've got to have in place in order to have a chance to make it work with so many new guys coming in the door. "

Elliott and his staff have a lot of work to do if this program is going to be back in the mix in the ACC in 2026.