Texas OL Neto Umeozulu enters the NCAA transfer portal

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In one of the most expected postseason decisions on the Texas Longhorns roster, fourth-year offensive lineman Neto Umeozulu entered the NCAA transfer portal when the window opened on Friday.

Part of the heralded 2022 offensive line class for the Longhorns, Umeozulu was a major coup for Texas offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Kyle Flood as he worked to rebuild the roster. Given the lack of success the Horns have had historically in recruiting talent-rich Allen High School, securing Umeozulu late in the cycle was all the more remarkable.

The 6’4, 325-pounder’s decision came after official visits to Alabama and USC in addition to Texas. Other offers for the consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 91 player nationally and the No. 4 interior offensive lineman, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings included Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.

With classmate Cole Hutson starting as a freshman and DJ Campbell ascending to that role at right guard in 2023, Umeozulu had a tough path to playing time working behind three-year starter Hayden Conner on the left side.

In 13 games over his first three seasons, Umeozulu played 166 snaps, flashing a level of consistency over 81 snaps in blowouts as a redshirt sophomore in 2024, albeit against overmatched competition.

Umeozulu was expected to finally step into a starting role in 2025 as a fourth-year player, but buzz began increasing at the end of preseason camp that redshirt sophomore Connor Stroh had made a move on the depth chart at left guard.

Relegated to a rotational role in the season opener against Ohio State with Stroh starting, Umeozulu played 11 snaps before seeing the field for 37 plays against San Jose State and 25 plays against UTEP, all games in which he graded out reasonably well as Stroh struggled and was benched in favor of freshman Nick Brooks before Flood moved Hutson back to guard and made redshirt junior Connor Robertson the starter at center.

When non-conference play ended, Umeozulu didn’t see playing time on offense until the blowout win over Arkansas in November, settling for playing time on the field-goal unit — even as the position devolved into an abject disaster, the staff ruled Umeozulu unfit to fix those problems.

After walking on Senior Night, it was clear that Umeozulu was going to leave the program when the January window opened, officially making his career the most disappointing of the seven Texas offensive line signees in 2022 as Flood’s disconnect between what he thought he would get from the left guard position and the porous play that resulted became a deciding factor in the Horns missing the playoff, a potentially tenure-ending miscalculation for Flood in Austin that fell short of termination worthy for head coach Steve Sarkisian’s longtime colleague.

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