Alabama star tight end announces Big 12 transfer destination

Alabama star tight end Jahleel Billingsley has chosen his transfer destination, and he’s taking his talents to the Big 12. On Sunday, it was revealed Billingsley is joining the Texas Longhorns per On3’s Inside Texas.

Moreover, Billingsley has strong ties to the Longhorns’ coaching staff. First, Steve Sarkisian was his offensive coordinator for two seasons at Alabama, and Jeff Banks was his tight ends coach before heading to Texas. The latter was named as the secondary recruiter on Billingsley’s On3 database profile.

The addition of Billingsley couldn’t come at a better time for Texas. To illustrate, the program lost two tight ends since the end of the 2021 season. Cade Brewer graduated, and Jared Wiley decided to transfer to TCU. Other candidates had limited experience, so Billingsley fills a huge hole for the Longhorns.

Continuing, Billingsley will be a warm welcome for Sarkisian and his offense. The familiarity is already there with the scheme — he could have immediate playing time in Austin.

Throughout his time at Alabama, Billingsley had 37 receptions for 559 yards and six touchdowns. His breakout game came against Southern Miss this season, having 105 yards and a touchdown on five receptions. Being a more athletic, receiving tight end, Billingsley could spread open the entire field for Texas.

Alabama defensive star could join Billingsley at Texas

Furthermore, Billingsley isn’t the only former Alabama star that could be on his way to Texas. Earlier, Crimson Tide linebacker Drew Sanders decided to continue his college football career away from Tuscaloosa, and he’s making a multitude of visits.

According to Gerry Hamilton of On3, Sanders visited Arkansas last Wednesday and Oklahoma last Thursday. Then, he visited Texas on Friday and stayed through Saturday. Sanders held offers from all three programs in high school.

The former five-star recruit is a native of Denton, Texas, which is outside of Dallas. He was the No. 3 recruit in the state, No. 5 linebacker and No. 25 overall recruit nationally in the 2020 class according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. 

Sanders entered the transfer portal on Jan. 11, the day after Alabama’s national title loss to Georgia in Indianapolis.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.