The Texas football team lost another player to the transfer portal on Thursday as running back Nik Sanders has entered his name. This isn't a big loss for the Longhorns as Sanders was a freshman this past season, and he did not get any action. Sanders is the 10th Texas player to enter the transfer portal this offseason, and the third player to enter after the College Football Playoff loss to Ohio State.
“Texas running back Nik Sanders has entered the transfer portal, @On3sports has learned,” Pete Nakos said in a post.
The Texas football team saw their season come to an end last week as they lost in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State. Not a lot of people gave the Longhorns a chance in this one, but they were right there until the very end.
Texas had a chance to tie the game late against the Buckeyes as they had a first and goal at the one while trailing by a touchdown. Four chances to get one yard, and the Longhorns couldn't do it. A questionable play call resulted in a huge loss as the Longhorns ran a toss play, and Ohio State completely shut it down. The Buckeyes ended up sealing it with a strip sack scoop and score on fourth and goal to make it 28-14.
Now the offseason is here for Texas, and transfer portal departures are always going to happen. However, one thing that could contribute to the Longhorns losing players are the rumors swirling around head coach Steve Sarkisian. There is currently some speculation that Sarkisian might be looking into some jobs in the NFL.
The NFL coaching carousel is underway as there are numerous teams looking for head coaches this offseason. There are lot of candidates in play for these positions, and Steve Sarkisian has been mentioned as a potential fit for some of them.
One team to watch specifically is the Dallas Cowboys as the majority of the rumors around Sarkisian involve the team from Texas. However, there is also a lot of buzz about Colorado head coach Deion Sanders making the move to Dallas. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.
If Sarkisian does leave, you can definitely expect there to be a lot of transfer portal departures from Texas. It's going to happen no matter what, but a coaching change is definitely the thing that sparks the most exits.