Troy Taylor's firing leads to transfer portal win for Texas Tech over Steve Sarkisian's Texas

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns did not expect themselves to be vying for a player in the transfer portal at this stage of the offseason. It is not a traditional transfer portal window, but after a head coach is fired, players get a 30-day window to enter the portal.

Stanford head coach Troy Taylor was fired on March 25, and as a result, any player on Stanford was eligible to enter the transfer portal. One of the biggest stars to enter the portal after Troy Taylor was fired was edge rusher David Bailey. However, Texas was unable to secure a commitment from the star edge rusher.

The Longhorns were in the running to land Bailey as he visited the university on Tuesday. However, he ultimately decided to join Texas' in-state rival Texas Tech. The Red Raiders beat out the Longhorns and UCLA as the three major contenders to land Bailey in the portal.

The transfer portal will open again on April 16 for the spring window. This window is not typically as active as the winter window. However, there are still likely to be some big names in the portal. Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns are expected to look at all possible options when the portal opens back up.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian reflects on the team's transfer portal additions this season

In early March, near the start of spring practice, head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke about Texas' transfer portal class. The team added several defensive players, including Cole Brevard, Hero Kanu, Travis Shaw, and Brad Spence, as well as punter Jack Bouwmeester.

"Some of the transfers defensively, Cole Brevard, Hero Kanu, Travis Shaw and Brad Spence, all played significant roles at the schools they came from," Sarkisian said of the transfer class in early March. "So it's easy to look at numbers and say, 'Hey, we've got a ton to replace.'

"We do, but we also have some guys and some key ingredients that played some critical roles for us last season that I think will be impactful for us this fall."

Despite failing to land David Bailey after Stanford fired Troy Taylor, the Longhorns are still in a good spot heading into the 2025 season. The most significant factor to the team's success will be the play of QB Arch Manning. Manning is replacing Quinn Ewers and starting his first season at the college level.