Texas is busy in the transfer portal ...

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Bobby Burton -

The portal opened just one week ago today. Texas has added four players in just seven days (five in nine days). All are key additional pieces and all are at positions of need.

You get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, there was a plan. A plan that was thought about and strategized behind the scenes for months. Hats off to Brandon Harris and the entire personnel department staff. What they accomplished in such a short period of time is the envy of college football personnel departments.

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Not a single portal visitor who visited Texas this portal period took a visit elsewhere following their Texas visit.

Texas closed on the players it wanted. There was no back and forth. That is such a rare thing in these days. In sum, it shows the Horns had done their due diligence, identified the right players, and then had the capacity and capability to strike while the iron as hot.

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The latest pledge, Maraad Watson of Syracuse, is indicative of a portal recruitment process that will pay dividends this fall.

Watson, a freshman All-American defensive tackle, played the third most snaps of any freshman defensive tackle in the country in 2024. The Irvington, N.J., native originally picked Syracuse over Tennessee. Yet when it came time to enter the portal - with suitors like Miami and Ohio State lining up - Watson’s first and only visit was to Texas. Texas had clearly worked the back channels of portal recruiting better than anyone.

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As I’ve written for more than a week now, Texas will continue to be proactively aggressive if opportunities present themselves.

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