Cincinnati transfer QB Brendan Sorsby to visit Texas Tech on Friday, report says
2026 NCAA football transfer portal: Tracking moves for Texas Tech, SMU, other area schools


Springfield High School graduate Mike Brown recently received a prestigious honor by making the list of the top 70 influencers in the sphere of Name, Image and Likeness for college athletes.
Silver Waves conducted exhaustive research to compile the list of those who have shaped the landscape of collegiate sports and athletic endorsements.
Brown founded his business Hoop Culture in 2010 and has built it into a globally recognized basketball lifestyle brand.
Hoop Culture offers lifestyle apparel and custom team uniforms. It is well known for its very distinctive basketball backpacks. This brand has sold in more than 85 nations.
Brown earned his spot on the prestigious NIL list through partnerships, influencers and organizations including collaborations with Division I universities and with high-level influencers and athletes.
And to think that this love for basketball all began in Springfield, specifically at the Springfield Community Center long before high school.
Everyone has heard the stories about how the Springfield Community Center was the introduction to hoops for so many who went on to embrace the game.
Brown took it far. He was a 1,000-point scorer in high school, playing two years at Green Mountain Union High School and the final two at Springfield for coach Mike Hatt.
He also had a great college career between Lyndon State and Green Mountain College. Brown sparkled in the college classroom as well. Between Lyndon and Green Mountain, he had a stint at Southern Maine Community College — where he received the IBM Business Award. A professor told Brown that he earned the honor because he applied the same work ethic in the classroom that he had displayed on the basketball court.
Brown eventually moved to Florida for the warmer weather and he loves being in the business world.
Green Mountain College coach Matt Dempsey stressed that while Brown was a tremendous 3-point shooter, he was also outstanding at finding the open man as a point guard.
The assist — or the equivalent of it away from basketball, which is helping others — has taken Brown far. He helps college athletes achieve goals and that is what brings him joy and success.
And it has just landed him on a very exclusive list.
The Husson University football staff not only recruits Vermont in great numbers, they also find the Green Mountain Staters to be leaders. Two of the four captains for the 2025 team are Vermonters — Bellows Falls’ Jed Lober and Hartford’s Brayden Trombly.
Lober is a senior and was the Eagles’ top running back last fall with 868 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
Trombly was a game-changer as a defensive back with 75 tackles and two pass interceptions.
Notably, Trombly is a sophomore captain. That is a rarity that speaks to his leadership qualities and quick adjustment to the college game and setting.
Another captain out of Vermont is Springfield High graduate Ari Cioffi. She is a senior this year at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine and captain of the swim team.
An outstanding athlete at Springfield, she also competed in swimming for the Connecticut River Valley Stingrays.
The weather on Sept. 5, 2009 around here was gorgeous.
How do you remember what the weather was like on a specific day that long ago? There were about 5,000 people on the Castleton campus that remember it vividly.
That was the day of the first football game in the history of the college. The governor was there, many bands were spread among a vibrant tailgating scene and people were getting ready for something many believed would never happen — Castleton football.
It is a scene that former Castleton football players Tucker Gaudette and Jake McCarthy will experience on Sept. 6.
New England College will play it first varsity football game that day by hosting state rival Plymouth State. Gaudette and McCarthy are graduate assistant coaches on the NEC staff.
Gaudette, a BFA-St. Albans product and the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2022, is working with the line and McCarthy with the wide receivers.
Vermont artist Peter Huntoon captured that day on Sept. 5, 2009 at the stadium that would later be named for his brother-in-law Dave Wolk. Huntoon’s painting is hanging in numerous businesses and homes throughout the area as well as in the Hall of Fame Room at Vermont State University Castleton.
Former Shoreham resident Ryan Boutwell graduated from NCAA Division III Gustavus Adolphus in 1999. Twenty six years later, he still holds kicking records for the Golden Gusties who have been playing football for well over 100 years.
Boutwell holds the record at the Minnesota college for most points by a kicker (200) and most career field goals with 34. One season he converted 13 of his 18 field goal attempts.
Steve Lanpher is well known in the Vermont basketball community with coaching stints in places like West Rutland, Rochester, College of St. Joseph, Norwich University and the University of Vermont.
He will have a new basketball address this season. Lanpher took a job this month as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Cleveland State after a successful tenure as the women’s head coach at Division III Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Lanpher has been friends for a number of years with Cleveland State head coach Chris Kielsmeier.
“I felt I had reached the ceiling at Randolph and felt it was time to give Division I more ride,” Lanpher said.
Lanpher is headed to a winning program. The Vikings were 29-6 last year and 18-2 as champions of the Horizon League.
Since New Hampshire ruled that its players could only play in one of its two All-Star games (the East-West CHaD Game or the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl), Vermont has a 6-4 edge in the Maple Sugar Bowl football game, the summer high school all-star game that has been around since 1954.
This year’s lone NCAA transfer portal window officially opened on Friday, as thousands of players across the country look for an opportunity to find a new place to call home.
The transfer portal as a whole is the wild west reincarnated and on steroids, as just about anything can happen. According to On3, last year’s portal cycles saw 4,184 players enter their name, with 68% of them committing to a new school while just 3.61% withdrew their names. Where things get complicated is the fact that a player can enter his name into the portal, but not find a landing spot for himself somewhere else. It also doesn’t mean that a player has to leave, but schools aren’t obligated to preserve their place on the team if they don’t want to.
However, the transfer portal experience varies for every player. While some athletes risk their careers by entering, others will have some of the biggest schools in the country throwing significant money at them.
The latter being one of the main reasons we see what is called a “do not contact” tag. Notable players such as Sam Leavitt (Arizona State), Isaac Brown (Louisville) and Luke Reynolds (Penn State) have entered their names into the portal with the tag, but what does that mean?
For the select few players who are good enough to take that risk it means one of two things: they either have an idea of where they are going, or they will be in contact with the schools that interest them.

While many will be outraged or naive about the matter, programs have been in touch with players months before the portal’s opening. Any inclination that the player might enter the portal throughout the year, whether it’s Leavitt getting hurt and his season ending prematurely or James Franklin being fired from Penn State, programs around the country find ways to stay in contact with the star players.
Again, this likely doesn’t apply to the backup quarterback leaving a Group of Five program, but not all situations are the same. For a player like Leavitt or Brown, they have a chance to essentially go to a school, see what it offers in terms of development, and also see how much it will offer. They then can go to another program and see if they will match or top the offer, and can control the bidding war over themselves.
The January portal window runs through Jan. 16 this year, and unlike in years past, there will be no spring window. So, once a player decides their next move, they have to live with it.
Former Michigan State transfer Sam Leavitt officially entered the NCAA transfer portal on Friday with a “do not contact” tag, meaning schools can’t reach out unless Leavitt or his camp makes the first move.
Leavitt burst onto the national scene in 2024 after transferring to Arizona State, establishing himself as the Sun Devils’ starter and finishing the season with 2,885 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions, while adding 443 rushing yards and five scores as a true dual-threat.
He helped fuel ASU’s 11–3 finish and first-ever College Football Playoff appearance, earning Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and second-team All-Big 12 honors.
Leavitt followed that up with solid production in 2025, throwing for 1,628 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions while adding 300 rushing yards and five scores, though he was limited to just seven games after a lingering foot injury required season-ending surgery on October 31.
Before coming to college, Leavitt starred at West Linn High School in West Linn, Oregon, as a consensus four-star prospect and the No. 21 quarterback in the 2024 class per 247Sports, choosing Michigan State over offers from Washington State, Arizona, Florida State, and Washington.
With the transfer portal set to open at midnight Friday, On3’s Pete Nakos and Steve Wiltfong provided the latest intel on programs showing early interest, reporting that three schools have emerged as primary contenders for Leavitt — Miami, Oregon, and LSU — as the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the portal.

Oregon, Miami, and LSU each present a compelling scheme and situational fit for Leavitt.
Oregon offers a home-region landing spot with an offense built to maximize his mobility and timing with playmakers, while Miami provides a high-visibility ACC platform and a scheme well-suited for an accurate, aggressive quarterback as the Hurricanes continue to explore veteran portal options.
LSU also looms as a logical destination, with Lane Kiffin’s new staff actively working the portal and seeking an immediate upgrade at quarterback, where Leavitt’s experience and draftable traits would fit seamlessly.
It’s also worth noting that Oregon and Miami are both CFP semifinalists set to lose their starting quarterbacks, creating a rare opportunity for Leavitt to step into a title-contending environment right away.
Through the first part of Bowl Season, ESPN has seen strong returns on its non-College Football Playoff games. The biggest one, of course, was the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
An average of 8.7 million people tuned in for the game, which saw BYU take down Georgia Tech on ABC, ESPN announced. It’s the best viewership for the game since 1991, when it was the Blockbuster Bowl, and became ESPN’s best non-CFP bowl game since the 2019-2020 Citrus Bowl.
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As a whole, ESPN’s bowl game viewership is up 13% for non-College Football Playoff games through Dec. 27, the network announced. On the whole, 2.7 million people on average have tuned in as multiple games drew strong numbers.
BYU’s victory over Georgia Tech came down to the final seconds as the Yellow Jackets fell short on the final possession. The Cougars then had the opportunity to partake in one of college football’s newest – and most popular – traditions. Head coach Kalani Sitake and the players got to eat one of the edible mascots after two of the three went into the toaster.
Protein Slammin’ Strawberry was the one who “escaped” beforehand, though. Officials for the Pop-Tarts Bowl game said it was the decision to “go pro,” which brought a new twist to the celebration.
The Pinstripe Bowl between Penn State and Clemson drew its best viewership on record as 7.6 million people tuned in for the Nittany Lions’ victory over the Tigers. Additionally, the Gator Bowl hit 6.0 million viewers on average – its best figure since 2009. Virginia took down Missouri in that game to secure a 10-win season for the Cavaliers.
At 4.4 million viewers, the Rate Bowl also drew its highest numbers since 2011 as Minnesota picked up yet another bowl game victory over P.J. Fleck, taking down New Mexico. The L.A. Bowl went out on a high note with a new record-high of 3.8 million viewers tuning in for Washington’s win against Boise State in the final installment of the game, as On3’s Brett McMurphy previously reported.
Three other bowl games drew record viewership, as well, according to ESPN. The First Responder Bowl between FIU and UTSA brought in 3.1 million viewers to set a new all-time high, while the Hawaii Bowl averaged 2.7 million viewers for Cal’s thrilling win over Hawaii on Christmas Eve. That made it the most-watched Hawaii Bowl since 2013. Finally, the Military Bowl averaged 2.5 million – its best since 2018 – as East Carolina took down Pitt.
Quarterback Brendan Sorsby emerged as a productive, efficient starter for Cincinnati in 2025, throwing for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns against five interceptions, while adding 580 rushing yards and nine rushing scores on the ground, completing 61.6% of his passes across 12 games.
The Bearcats finished 7–5 overall (5–4 in Big 12 play) under third-year head coach Scott Satterfield, marking a two-win improvement from the previous season and the program’s best finish since the Luke Fickell era.
However, Sorsby informed Cincinnati of his intent to enter the transfer portal ahead of the window opening, which runs from January 2 to January 16.
A Denton, Texas, native from Lake Dallas High School, Sorsby was rated a three-star recruit and the No. 66 quarterback in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the 2022 cycle, initially committing to Indiana over offers from Army, Delaware, Navy, and East Texas A&M.
With the Hoosiers (2022–23), Sorsby redshirted in 2022 and appeared in just one game before playing in 10 contests in 2023, throwing for 1,587 yards, 15 touchdowns, and five interceptions while showcasing his dual-threat ability with 276 rushing yards and four rushing scores.
He transferred to Cincinnati ahead of the 2024 season and quickly established himself as the Bearcats’ starter, posting a career high 2,813 passing yards alongside 18 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions, plus 447 rushing yards and nine rushing TDs, before another strong finish in 2025 that solidified him as one of the more proven quarterbacks in the transfer portal.
With the portal opening Friday at midnight, On3 reporters Pete Nakos and Steve Wiltfong flagged Texas Tech as an early frontrunner while identifying LSU as a competing suitor, describing the two programs as going “head-to-head” to land Sorsby.
Shortly after, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Sorsby already has visits lined up with both programs, with the quarterback set to visit Texas Tech late Friday before heading to Baton Rouge.

Texas Tech offers an immediate schematic fit for Sorsby, operating a pass-heavy, vertical offense under Joey McGuire’s staff, while also providing geographic proximity to his Texas roots.
Furthermore, the Red Raiders are expected to have a clear opening at quarterback with senior starter Behren Morton set to move on, creating a direct path to early playing time.
LSU, meanwhile, presents a different but equally compelling case, offering SEC competition, greater national exposure, and a proven track record of developing transfer quarterbacks under head coach Lane Kiffin, notably Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss and now New York Giants QB Jaxson Dart.
With the portal window opening at midnight, typical transfer timelines point to visits and official meetings taking place quickly, with a commitment potentially coming within days to a few weeks as NIL discussions and evaluations progress.
Sorsby’s current NIL valuation sits around $2.4 million, ranking him among the top-valued quarterbacks in college football, a figure that could rise if schools escalate offers, with some suitors reportedly prepared to push past $4 million.
Here are five burning questions for Texas Tech football this offseason…
Texas Tech football outgrew the talent of its quarterback in one offseason. Behren Morton was a perfect fit for the Texas Tech program that existed in his four years prior, but head coach Joey McGuire’s unwavering loyalty to Morton may have cost this year’s team a shot at the national championship.
Morton will be graduating now, so the checkbooks are open for general manager James Blanchard to find a new QB1.
As of Friday, Blanchard and other Texas Tech athletes’ only public interest has been in Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby. Blanchard reposted Sorsby’s transfer portal announcement, and within an hour, 12 Texas Tech football players had commented on his post.
Sorsby is rated the No. 1 quarterback available in the portal by On3. He is regarded as a potential first-round pick if he enters the NFL draft, but the money college programs are expected to offer will surpass a rookie contract.
Other names to watch are Florida’s DJ Lagway and Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt.
Texas Tech will lose five premier starters on defense to exhausted eligibility: DT Lee Hunter, ILB Jacob Rodriguez, OLB David Bailey, OLB Romello Height and S Cole Wisniewski.
Those five made up 337 total tackles, 29 sacks and 15 forced fumbles in 2025.
Texas Tech will hit the portal to fill a handful of the upcoming defensive holes, but the Red Raiders will retain a handful of players who can step up. Rodriguez’s counterpart, linebacker Ben Roberts, is atop that list.
Between the Big 12 Championship and the Capital One Orange Bowl, Roberts had three interceptions. He also had a career-high 16 tackles in Thursday’s loss.
Roberts and budding linebacker/safety John Curry will man the interior linebacker spots in 2026 alongside at least one portal addition.
USC transfer running back Quinten Joyner tore his ACL on Aug. 18 before taking a regular season snap with Texas Tech. He had not been named the primary back, but his name was circulated in game strategy more frequently than Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams.
Dickey and Williams had strong freshman campaigns in their minimal snaps played, but McGuire didn’t know their full capabilities yet. So, before Joyner’s injury, he intended to run a three-headed system with no true starter.
McGuire remained content to run a 1A and 1B system with Dickey and Williams following the injury. It panned out perfectly. Dickey was a 1,000-yard rusher, and Williams thrived as a runner, receiver and kick returner.
Heading into 2025, they were all high-reward, experimental running backs, but one of the three may not be satisfied to play another season as a rotational player. None have entered the transfer portal as of Friday, but Dickey and Williams’ 2025 tape could warrant a payday and a guaranteed starter tag at multiple P4 programs.
The Micah Hudson saga has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. From becoming Texas Tech’s first five-star recruit to being used sparingly as a freshman to then transferring to Texas A&M and back to Lubbock a semester later, Hudson has yet to have his opportunity.
He reportedly struggled to grasp the playbook during his freshman season, which warranted his minimal usage. Then, when he returned to Texas Tech, the talent was too good for him to be anything more than a rotational piece.
Hudson has pledged his loyalty to McGuire and Texas Tech, so his name will be amongst the replacements for starters Caleb Douglas and Reggie Virgil. It’s reasonable to assume Texas Tech grabs one or two receivers from the portal, but Hudson is in a prime position to earn reps over the offseason.
His most recent snaps came against West Virginia in the season finale, when he had two touchdowns in the waning moments of a blowout win.
Texas Tech hung its hat on brotherhood this season. The talent was there at certain positions, but the culture McGuire built was a pillar of Texas Tech’s team-wide success.
However, Height noted in the locker room following Texas Tech’s 23-0 College Football Playoff loss that some players weren’t “locked in.”
No one was named, but there was evident frustration from defensive players with their offensive teammates. All of which is expected in the hour after a season-ending defeat, but if McGuire can’t reroute that energy into pushing for a title next season, it will hinder them.
Texas Tech is no longer the longshot team. There will be a huge shift in how team culture is established, going from the perennial middle-of-the-pack program to a place where the floor is now a playoff win.
Find more Texas Tech coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
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