2026 Texas roster construction show Sark evolving with NiL, portal
In 2022, there were no offensive starters that didn't start as.a Texas Football recruit. In 2026 more than half of the offense transferred to Texas.
College football has changed. An understatement to be sure. But the speed in which the sport has evolved is unprecedented.
The advent of NIL, paying players and basically free transfer through the NCAA portal has reshaped college football in just a few years. This year's Texas Longhorns football roster shows how UT coach Steve Sarkisian is evolving. In 2021, every single starter on offense was a homegrown Texas player.
They started as a recruit, signed a letter of intent and went to Texas. It sounds so normal. But court battles have led to big changes.
NIL (name, image, likeness) rights now reside with the player, who can sell them. That opened the door for schools to pay for the NIL rights, a way of playing players. The better the player, the more money he can earn off of his NIL.