Coming into the 2025 college football season, the expectation for the Texas Longhorns was to compete for the National Championship, entering the season as the top ranked team. Instead, the Longhorns fell far short of the lofty expectations as this was an incredibly flawed team. Arch Manning struggled early, the offensive line was abysmal, and the running game all led to this team ending the season with 3 losses.
This offseason, Steve Sarkisian was going to be forced to use the Transfer Portal to fix some of the biggest issues for this team. Texas can spend in this NIL era more than most programs making every offseason all about building an elite roster.
Steve Sarkisian has no choice in fixing his broken run game
One of Steve Sarkisian's top priorities this offseason was going to be finding a way to fix a rushing attack that wasn't even close to meeting expectations this year. As a team, Texas only managed 3.9 yards per carry, and when you take into account only Power 4 games the figure drops to 3.43 yards per carry.
The offensive line will be more experienced as a unit next season which will lead to improvement in the run game. Regardless of any improvement up front, Steve Sarkisian was going to need to find a top tier running back in the Transfer Portal.
If Steve Sarkisian somehow wasn't certain on adding running backs, he now seemingly has no choice. On Friday, Texas' leading rusher Quintrevion Wisner announced his intention to transfer joining Texas' RBs Cedric Baxter, Jerrick Gibson, and Rickey Stewart Jr.
The Longhorns can now use the Citrus Bowl as an audition for the younger running backs on the roster, but they'll need to at minimum add depth to the roster. Michael Terry III and James Simon are exciting freshman pieces who will certainly be a part of any rotation next season.
Texas is going to need to dip into the Transfer Portal and land an elite running back to help take pressure off Arch Manning. After hiring Florida RB coach Jabbar Juluke, the hope Texas fans is that they can land Gators star Jadan Baugh if he decides to enter the Transfer Portal. If not, Texas should push for a proven workhorse like Hollywood Smothers who headlines the Saturday Blitz Transfer Portal RB Rankings.