Virginia Linebacker Maddox Marcellus Withdraws From Transfer Portal and Re-Signs With UVA

Marcellus emerged as a really good defender last season and he will now be back in Charlottesville

Nov 29, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers linebacker Maddox Marcellus (11) celebrates after intercepting a pass against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the first quarter at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The transfer portal has not been super kind to Virginia through the first few days, but they got a big win today.

Linebacker Maddox Marcellus is going to re-sign with Virginia and withdraw from the transfer portal, giving the Cavaliers their biggest win of the transfer portal cycle. Marcellus had a great end to the season and emerged as one of the best defenders for UVA.

Virginia LB Maddox Marcellus (@MaddoxMarcellu3) has signed a new deal with Virginia and plans to withdraw from the portal, the @TheCarterlife35 tells @CBSSports.

Big win for UVA, which keeps a productive LB on the roster. Posted 49 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 1 INT and a 76 PFF grade. https://t.co/AsXYpTIgD1 pic.twitter.com/1S1EPXrUOP

— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) January 6, 2026

This season, Marcellus totaled 49 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 1 INT and a 76 PFF grade. He is going to be one of the top players on this UVA defense next season and getting him back is a huge win for Tony Elliott's program.

UVA's Approach to the Portal

Virginia was a portal heavy team last offseason and it should 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. Getting Marcellus back is a really good start.