South Florida lands ex-Stanford offensive lineman

Connor McLaughlin showed flashes of potential at Stanford, but after minimal usage in 2024, he will get a fresh start in the area where his whole football career began.

Nov 5, 2021; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal offensive tackle Connor McLaughlin (71) walks out of the tunnel with his teammates for warmups against the Utah Utes at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

It looks like another Stanford Cardinal in the portal found a new home for 2025. Announcing early in the month that he was entering the transfer portal, offensive lineman Connor McLaughlin has already figured out his plans for his final season of college football, announcing on his X (formerly Twitter) account that he was committing to the University of South Florida.

#stayinthebay 🤘 pic.twitter.com/0Z6yV6qEdd

— Connor McLaughlin (@connormclau) December 16, 2024

Originally from Tampa, Florida, McLaughlin chose to play out his final season of college football in the same region in which he grew up, where he was a star at Jesuit High School under head coach Matt Thompson.

A starter at right tackle for the Cardinal in 2023, McLaughlin saw his playing time diminish early on in the 2024 season when Luke Baklenko surpassed him on the depth chart. Now, McLaughlin will have a chance to compete for a starting spot on the Bulls offensive line where his experience will be a welcome addition.

In the 2023 campaign, McLaughlin played in over 870 snaps and was a starter in every game but one. This year however, he only started in the first three games before becoming more of a rotational player and partaking in only a handful of snaps in four other games. The most action that he got the rest of the way was against Cal where he played in 40 snaps as a reserve.

Finishing at 6-6 this season, the Bulls qualifed for a bowl game for the second consecutive season after experiencing a 2-10 campaign in 2021 and a 1-11 campaign the following year. Hiring a new head coach in Alex Golesh prior to the start of 2023, the Bulls have started to build a more consistent winning culture, and after its matchup against San José State in the Hawaii Bowl, will go full steam ahead on taking another leap in 2025.