Report: Texas Longhorns deal with significant fallout from changing NIL landscape

NIL has been crazy for every college football program across the country, with the Texas Longhorns being no different. With the May 1 transfer portal coming and passing, according to a report, it was a close call for head coach Steve Sarkisian with two of his star players.

The first is freshman All-American Xavier Worthy. Chris Hummer of 247Sports said the wide receiver had a “significant six-figure offer from at least one Power Five school” to leave Texas and join their program. As of now, Worthy has not appeared in the NCAA transfer portal and the deadline to submit his name was Sunday night at 11:59 p.m.

During spring practice, Worthy was asked if he ever considered entering the transfer portal and leaving, especially because Texas had a poor season. He said that was never an option and all of his trust was with Sarkisian.

“No, that wasn’t even a decision I made,” Worthy said. “I put my trust in Sark and I believe in Sark. I’m not just going to leave on him after one bad year.”

Worthy was one of the best players in the country last season, being the best player in Sarkisian’s offense alongside running back Bijan Robinson. He finished with 62 receptions for 981 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games for the Longhorns.

Hummer is also reporting defensive back Jahdae Barron was approached by a program with a “significant deal” to leave Austin. The defensive back has the potential to get significant playing time for the Longhorns this season and as of now, has not shown up in the transfer portal.

Barron played in nine games last year, starting in two of them. He is entering his third season with the Texas program but could still be on his way out.

On the other side of the transfer portal, Texas lost out on TCU‘s Ochaun Mathis to Nebraska, in large part to a NIL deal presented by the Cornhuskers. The Manor, TX, product decided to leave his home state and head to the Big Ten program for his final season of college football.

“Mathis’ decision to pick the Huskers had to do in large part because of a significant NIL deal Nebraska presented, which a source said was in the mid-six-figure range,” Hummer said.

Overall, it could potentially be a program-defining week for Texas, for better or worse. It seems as if NIL has played a huge factor as the clock ticks on two potential transfers.