Texas Longhorns' Steve Sarkisian Has 'An Idea' How to Approach Upcoming Transfer Portal Window

Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian is making sure he and the staff do their homework ahead of next week's new transfer portal window.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /

AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns' success of last season was a blessing and a curse for coach Steve Sarkisian and staff, as the bright lights allowed the team's top players to receive tons of attention from NFL scouts and depart for the draft as a result.

The Longhorns have had no choice but to reload through the portal, and reload they have. Texas has added receivers like five-star Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond and Houston transfer Matthew Golden along with UTSA edge Trey Moore and Clemson safety Andrew Mukuba, to name a few. Eight total transfer additions so far this offseason has given Texas the No. 7 portal class in the country, per 247Sports' rankings.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond during football spring practice. / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

The spring transfer window for FBS begins on Tuesday, April 16 and ends two weeks later on April 30, giving the coaching staff another chance to add depth. When speaking to the media on Tuesday, Sarkisian didn't reveal his plans but admitted he has "an idea" for how the Longhorns will approach the new portal window.

“I have an idea, internally,” Sarkisian said. “We’re gonna have some real discussions as a staff here in the next week or so, because I want to coach the guys that we got. I do think we’ve got a really talented team.

"Got great depth on this team, it’s incredible right now that we’re two-spotting everything and we’re four-deep at every position, which is great that we’re able to do that. Naturally, I don’t know if I’m necessarily going to the portal to say we’ve got to get something, but I’m sure as we’ll monitor there will be some decent players that go in, and then do they fit us."

During the run to the College Football Playoff this past season, Sarkisian put an emphasis on culture and leadership, which arguably played the biggest factor in Texas' success just two years removed from a 5-7 season. He admitted that it can be a challenge recruiting the portal due to the short time you have to getting to know the person, not just the player, but that's not stopping him from keeping the program's culture intact as priority No. 1.

"One of the challenges with the portal which we touched on a week ago, is how do you get to know the player, not just what’s on tape, but the person," Sarkisian said. "We try to do our best around here not to sacrifice character for talent, meaning yeah he’s a really good player, but maybe some of the off-the-field issues don’t match up with the player. We’ve got such a good culture right now and I think that’s part of the reason why we win. We just want to make sure that we do our homework on anybody that we bring into the program this late in the game.”

No one would be surprised if the Longhorns add a name or two from the portal during the upcoming window, but any incoming player wouldn't be integrated in time to be able to play in the Orange-White Spring Game on Saturday, April 20.