Georgia adds Illinois RB Josh McCray, Army LB Elo Modozie and Miami DL Josh Horton
The Bulldogs added a trio of players in the portal: McCray, Modozie and Horton. McCray spent the first four seasons of his collegiate career at Illinois, rushing for 609 yards and 10 touchdowns on 5.2 yards per carry in 2024; Modozie logged 6.5 sacks on an Army team that went 12-2 last season; Horton has appeared in seven games since 2023. Georgia is coming off an 11-3 season that saw it lose to Notre Dame in the quarterfinal round of the College Football Playoff.
QB Ryan Browne heads back to Purdue after short stint with North Carolina
Browne — who transferred to Chapel Hill from Purdue in December — is rejoining the Boilermakers. The redshirt sophomore initially left West Lafayette after head coach Ryan Walters was fired. He committed to Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels but went back to the portal again in the wake of North Carolina’s pursuit of quarterback Gio Lopez. Browne, who started two games last season for the Boilermakers, will compete for the QB1 job with Bennett Meredith, Malachi Singleton and Evans Chuba.
South Alabama QB Gio Lopez to North Carolina
After two seasons at South Alabama, Lopez announced on X that he’s off to North Carolina. Last season, his first as the Jaguars’ full-time quarterback, Lopez totaled 2,559 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a 150.8 passer rating, while completing 66% of his passes. He also rushed for 463 yards and seven touchdowns.
Texas K Bert Auburn announces plans to transfer
After a rocky junior season with the Longhorns, Auburn and his signature hair are moving on, he announced on social media. Auburn made more than 80 percent of his field goal attempts in his first two seasons, but he was just 16-of-25 (64%) as a junior. Most notably, he doinked a potential game-winning field goal in the College Football Playoff against Arizona State before being benched for Will Stone in overtime. Auburn will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Notre Dame QB Steve Angeli enters the portal
Angeli has decided to move on from Notre Dame following its spring game. The senior quarterback was in a three-way battle for the starting job, alongside CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey. Carr, the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, is in the driver’s seat for the spot.
Angeli started one game for the Irish in his three-year career and also briefly relieved Riley Leonard in Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff semifinal win over Penn State. He’ll have two years of eligibility remaining.
Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava to UCLA
Four days after Tennessee moved on from Iamaleava due to his absence from team practice amid an NIL dispute — and mere hours after officially entering the spring transfer portal — the quarterback is off to L.A. to play for UCLA. He joins a Bruins team that went 5-7 in its first year under head coach DeShaun Foster last season. In 2024, the 20-year-old Iamaleava totaled 2,616 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a 145.3 passer rating, while completing 63.8% of his passes. He also rushed for 358 yards and three touchdowns.
Cal RB Jaydn Ott transfers to Oklahoma
One day after he entered the portal, Ott officially joined the Sooners for his final collegiate season. In three seasons at Cal, Ott totaled more than 3,000 yards from scrimmage, despite being limited by an ankle injury in 2024. In 2023, he led the Pac-12 with 1,315 rushing yards.
Oklahoma finished its first season in the SEC at 6-7. The Sooners ranked last in conference games in yards per carry (3.14).
Tennessee “moving on” from QB Nico Iamaleava
Amid an NIL contract dispute that saw the quarterback ask for a $2 million-plus raise, the Volunteers are “moving on” from Iamaleava, per ESPN. The quarterback not showing up at practice on Friday ahead of the team’s annual spring game was considered a “tipping point” for Tennessee. In what was Iamaleava’s first season as Tennessee’s starting quarterback, the Volunteers went 10-3 in 2024 before losing to Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoff. As a redshirt sophomore, Iamaleava totaled 2,616 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a 145.3 passer rating, while completing 63.8% of his passes. He also rushed for 358 yards and three touchdowns.
Ohio State QB Devin Brown to Cal
Ohio State’s backup quarterback is on the move. Brown entered the transfer portal in December 2024 but stayed with the Buckeyes through their run to the national championship that ended with a win over Notre Dame. Cal announced that Brown would be joining the Golden Bears for next season. Brown has thrown for 331 yards and three touchdowns in the past two seasons, mostly in mop-up duty, though he did toss one of Jeremiah Smith’s highlight-reel touchdowns. Brown has two years of eligibility remaining and is expected to compete for the starting job at Cal.
Iowa QB Cade McNamara to East Tennessee State
Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara has signed with East Tennessee State. McNamara began his college career at Michigan, where he led the team to a Big Ten title and a CFP berth as the starter in 2021 but lost the starting job to J.J. McCarthy before transferring after the 2022 season to Iowa. McNamara, who has dealt with numerous injuries in his career, will be heading into his seventh season.
Wisconsin DB Xavier Lucas to Miami
The former Wisconsin defensive back is leaving for Miami, his attorney Darren Heitner told Yahoo Sports on Jan. 15. According to the report, Lucas withdrew from classes at Wisconsin and enrolled academically at Miami, but did not formally sign with the Hurricanes, which skirts NCAA transfer rules and avoids a legal filing. Wisconsin didn’t put Lucas’ name into the portal because he had entered into a two-year binding name, image and likeness agreement with “substantial financial compensation,” the school said.
UMass WR Anthony Simpson to Michigan
For the second time in his collegiate career, Simpson is on the move. The receiver began his career at Arizona before transferring to UMass in 2023. Now he’s headed to Michigan for the 2025 season, according to ESPN. Simpson, who dealt with an injury early this past season, played in just two games and left the program in September. He had a strong season in 2023 for the Minutemen under then-OC Steve Casula, who is now the tight ends coach for the Wolverines. Simpson has one year of eligibility remaining.
Georgia QB Carson Beck to Miami (FL)
Rather than enter the 2025 NFL Draft, Beck went into the transfer portal and landed with Miami. The senior quarterback suffered a season-ending elbow injury in Georgia’s SEC Championship Game victory over Texas. Georgia later lost to Notre Dame in the quarterfinal round of the College Football Playoff.
Beck, who was Georgia’s primary quarterback the past two seasons (2023-24), averaged 3,713 passing yards, 26 passing touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 156.2 passer rating per season, while completing 68.4% of his passes. He’s in line to replace Cam Ward, who set Miami single-season records in yards (4,313), completions (305) and touchdown passes (39).
Tulane RB Makhi Hughes to Oregon
Soon after starting running back Jordan James declared for the NFL Draft, the Ducks gained his potential replacement. Hughes announced he’d be transferring to Oregon after rushing for 1,401 yards at Tulane in 2024, which ranked in the top 10 in FBS this season. Hughes’ younger brother, five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord, is a member of Oregon’s 2025 recruiting class.
South Dakota State QB Mark Gronowski to Iowa
After an official visit to the Iowa campus on Jan. 3, Gronowski has committed to join the Hawkeyes next season, ESPN reported on Jan. 7 and Gronkoswki later confirmed on social media. The Jackrabbits QB finished the season with 2,719 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, 380 rushing yards and 10 rushing TDs. Gronowski was named the FCS Championship Game MVP in two straight years, following the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He also won the 2023 Walter Payton Award, which goes to the top offensive player in FCS.
USC WR Zachariah Branch and S Zion Branch to Georgia
Georgia landed two of the top players in the portal in brothers Zachariah and Zion Branch out of USC.
Zacharia was a five-star recruit out of the brothers’ hometown of Las Vegas and made 78 catches for 823 yards and three touchdowns over his first two seasons at USC. He struggled with drops and never emerged as the elite wideout many expected in USC coach Lincoln Riley’s offense.
Zion, a safety, has struggled with injuries since signing with the Trojans in 2022. He made a combined 41 tackles over the past two seasons after missing the entire 2022 campaign with a lower-body injury.
Michigan WR Tyler Morris to Indiana
The Wolverines‘ leading wideout in 2024 is staying in the Big Ten. On Jan. 4, Morris announced his commitment to Indiana. He paced all Michigan receivers with 23 catches for 248 yards and two touchdowns, though he ranked behind tight end Colston Loveland in each category. Those aren’t big numbers, but Michigan averaged just 133.6 yards per game (No. 130 in the nation) as it struggled to find a QB to replace McCarthy, Morris’ high school teammate. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
North Carolina State WR Kevin Concepcion to Texas A&M
The Aggies added another talented wide receiver through the portal soon after they brought in Mario Craver from Mississippi State and Micah Hudson from Texas Tech. Concepcion announced his decision to transfer from NC State to Texas A&M on Dec. 29. Concepcion won ACC Rookie of the Year and was named a freshman All-American in 2023.
Rice OT Ethan Onianwa to Ohio State
Just days after its first-round CFP win, Ohio State picked up another major victory in the transfer portal. Ethan Onianwa, widely regarded as one of the sport’s top offensive tackles, committed to Ohio State. Onianwa was viewed by some scouts as a potential second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, per FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman. Instead, he’ll join an Ohio State squad that is expected to lose a couple of standouts on its offensive line in the draft this offseason.
Virginia QB Anthony Colandrea to UNLV
Colandrea posted on Instagram that he is committed to UNLV, weeks after he announced his intention to enter the transfer portal. The sophomore started the first 11 games of the season for Virginia before being benched in its regular-season finale with bowl eligibility on the line. Colandrea joins new UNLV coach Dan Mullen, who worked with quarterbacks like Tim Tebow and Dak Prescott at previous stops.
Washington State QB John Mateer to Oklahoma
Mateer announced on social media that he’s transferring to Oklahoma, where he’ll reunite with Ben Arbuckle. OU hired Arbuckle, the former Washington State offensive coordinator, for the same role. Mateer will take over for Jackson Arnold, who transferred to Auburn. Washington State coach Jake Dickert spoke highly of Mateer, saying he thinks “he’s going to be the best player in the country next year.” Mateer became the starter this season after the Cougars’ previous QB, Cam Ward, transferred to Miami. The redshirt sophomore threw for 3,139 yards and finished in the top 10 in the country in touchdown passes (29) and passer rating (164.09). He also ran for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Duke QB Maalik Murphy to Oregon State
The former four-star QB recruit spent the 2024 season at Duke, which he transferred to after one season at Texas, where Murphy was behind starter Quinn Ewers and potentially Arch Manning moving forward. Murphy totaled 2,933 passing yards, 26 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 133.5 passer rating, while completing 60.3% of his passes. The Blue Devils went 9-3 this season with Murphy, who joins a Beavers program that went 5-7 in their first season under head coach Trent Bray.
Alabama QB Dylan Lonergan to Boston College
Lonergan, a former four-star recruit, has committed to Boston College after two seasons at Alabama, ESPN reported on Dec. 17. Lonergan was originally recruited to Alabama by BC head coach Bill O’Brien, the former Tide offensive coordinator. Lonergan appeared in just three games for the Crimson Tide, throwing a combined eight passes. He was a Top 100 recruit in 2023.
Holy Cross OL Christo Kelly to North Carolina
Bill Belichick has landed his first commitment out of the transfer portal since taking the job at UNC, as Kelly has announced his intent to play for the NFL legend. Kelly, a 6-foot-4, 305-pounder, has been Holy Cross’ starting center for the last two seasons. He was named to the All-Patriot League first team last season. Late last week, Belichick got a major win when four-star QB Bryce Baker announced that he would stick with his commitment to UNC.
Alabama DT Jehiem Oatis to Colorado
Days after Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy, Colorado coach Deion Sanders scored another win when the 6-foot-5, 320-pound Oatis committed to the Buffs, as he told ESPN. The defensive tackle played extensively in his first two years at Alabama but decided to transfer earlier this season when his playing time decreased. In 29 games for the Crimson Tide, Oatis totaled 57 tackles, three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and five passes defended.
Stanford QB Ashton Daniels to Auburn
Daniels, who started nine games this season for Stanford, confirmed to On3 that he is transferring to Auburn. In 11 appearances this season, he threw for 1,700 yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Daniels also led the Cardinal in rushing with 148 carries for 669 yards and added three touchdowns on the ground. The junior has one year of eligibility left, with a redshirt available as well. The Tigers also landed Oklahoma transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold in this cycle.
Texas Tech WR Micah Hudson to Texas A&M
Hudson, who announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on Dec. 1, is headed for Texas A&M, he told On3. Hudson was the 25th-ranked overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class but had an underwhelming freshman season. He has three seasons of eligibility left.
Michigan RB Cole Cabana to Minnesota
Cabana, a sophomore running back from Dexter, Michigan, announced his commitment to Minnesota on Sunday, Dec. 15. The former four-star recruit has struggled with injuries and playing time in his two seasons with Michigan. Cabana finished his Michigan career with just two carries for 6 yards, both of which came in 2023. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold to Auburn
Arnold is off to Auburn, according to ESPN. Last season, Arnold made 10 starts, totaling 1,421 passing yards, 12 passing touchdowns, three interceptions and a 124.8 passer rating, while completing 62.6% of his passes. He also rushed for 444 yards and three touchdowns. The Tigers are coming off a 5-7 season.
Texas A&M QB Conner Weigman to Houston
Weigman, a highly touted recruit in the Class of 2022, announced his commitment to Houston on Dec. 11. Weigman began the season as the Aggies‘ starter, but injuries and inconsistent play led to Marcel Reed taking over at QB. The redshirt sophomore went 9-4 in two seasons at Texas A&M, including a 4-1 record this year. In six total games in 2024, he threw for 819 yards and three scores, while also tossing five interceptions. Houston went 4-8 in 2024 and started Donovan Smith and Zeon Chriss at quarterback.
FIU WR Eric Rivers to Georgia Tech
Rivers, who announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on Dec. 1, signed with Georgia Tech, per multiple reports. Rivers was statistically one of the best wide receivers in the country in 2024, finishing fourth in receiving yards (1,172) and receiving touchdowns (12).
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