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The path to the NFL is made more difficult by transferring out of Steve Sarkisian's Texas

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•04/29/25•

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Kitan Crawford
Kitan Crawford (Kirby Lee-Imagn)

Since Steve Sarkisian and company arrived on the 40 Acres in early 2021, only two players who played for the Longhorns under Sarkisian and then elected to transfer have been picked in the NFL draft.

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The first was tight end Jared Wiley, who left Texas for TCU after the 2021 season. Wiley was part of TCU’s run to the national championship game in 2022, hauling in four touchdowns in the Horned Frogs’ best season of the modern era. Wiley added eight touchdowns the following year in 2023.

Wiley was far more productive at TCU than at Texas. In burnt orange, Wiley caught 19 passes for 248 yards and three scores across three seasons. In purple? He notched 71 catches for 765 yards and 12 touchdowns in two campaigns. Wiley was selected in the fourth round of the 2024 draft by Kansas City and was the ninth tight end taken off the board. Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders preceded Wiley in that very same draft as TE4, and his presence on the roster may explain why Wiley sought another destination.

The second was picked in this past weekend’s draft. After four years at Texas with 46 appearances and four starts, Kitan Crawford used the extra year of eligibility afforded by the NCAA in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to follow Jeff Choate and other Longhorn staffers to Nevada. In one season with the Wolf Pack, Crawford recorded 76 tackles, three TFL, two interceptions, seven passes defended, one fumble recovery, and one forced fumble. He earned honorable mention All-Mountain West honors this past season. Crawford was a key part of Texas’ efforts in 2023, but the development of Michael Taaffe and Derek Williams plus the addition of Andrew Mukuba made extended playing time hard to come by during Texas’ first year in the SEC.

That’s it. Other players who have left the program have earned undrafted free agent deals, but Crawford and Wiley are the only players who departed Austin for their own different reasons and still made it into the seven rounds of the draft.

Much has been made of roster retention as the NIL era has progressed. Keeping players that programs want within those programs has become arguably the main responsibility of focused NIL efforts.

But it’s not just money that has players sticking around in Austin. Sarkisian touched on this Monday at the Touchdown Club of Houston, explaining that players on his roster see a path to the NFL through the Longhorn football program.

“I’m proud of the fact that really, we didn’t have any surprises,” Sarkisian said Monday about the portal. “I think that’s a good thing. Nobody came to me two days before the last practice and said they were going into the portal. We’ve developed a really good culture around our place where guys feel like they’re getting developed and they’re part of a program that’s competing for championships; where if you can do things the right way, you’re probably going to have an opportunity to fulfill your dreams of playing in the NFL. You’re getting a world-class education. There’s a lot of positives that we have, and the fact that our team recognizes that I think is a good thing.”

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The path to the draft is clearer in Austin these days than elsewhere, save for two hard-earned exceptions.

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