In the first week of the winter transfer window, the Texas Longhorns made three additions from the NCAA transfer portal, addressing key areas of need with the signings of former Purdue Boilermakers defensive tackle Cole Brevard, former Arkansas Razorbacks linebacker Brad Spence, and former Utah Utes punter Jack Bouwmeester.
On Monday, head coach Steve Sarkisian commented on all three players.
Cole Brevard
The 6’3, 333-pounder started his career at Penn State before spending the last three years in West Lafayette, the last two as a starter, and is the first of multiple additions Texas plans to make at defensive tackle from the portal with four interior linemen already departing via the portal.
“With the attrition on the defensive line for us this year with some guys that have transferred and the amount of seniors that we have on our defensive line, although I thought we did a great job in recruiting it out of the high school ranks, this is probably going to be another cycle we talk about when you go into the portal, you go into it for positions of need from a depth perspective, I think Cole definitely provides that. He’s a guy with a ton of experience, started out at Penn State, started for two years at Purdue, and now to get him on board as a big, physical interior defensive lineman, I think is huge for us,” Sarkisian said.
Brevard has one season of eligibility remaining.
Brad Spence
The Houston Klein Forest product was a productive rotation player for Arkansas this season with 54 tackles, six tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and a quarterback hurry in addition to playing on the kickoff coverage and field-goal block special teams units for the Razorbacks.
“Brad Spence is a guy that we actually recruited pretty extensively out of high school, Klein Forest, who was more of an edge player in high school. When he got to Arkansas, they played him off the ball some on regular downs, and then on third down, they used him as kind of a DPR and allowed him to rush. Had an excellent game against us, oddly enough, and he gets seven tackles and a sack against us,” Sarkisian said.
“We’ve had some attrition at the linebacker position with some transfers, we’ve got a senior graduating, we were already a little under the number from where we wanted to be, we signed a couple high school kids, but to get him on board with the versatility he can provide on defense off the ball, as well as pass rushing, and what he did on special teams for Arkansas, I think is big for us.”
Jack Bouwmeester
An Australian who started his career at Michigan State before performing at a high level at Utah, Bouwmeester provides Texas an upgrade at punter after some significant struggles this season.
“Obviously an elite punter at the University of Utah, Australian background, and a guy who’s mastered a lot of the different punts, obviously, averaging 45 yards per punt, but when you look at some of the specialty punts that he has the ability to do, pin people inside the five, inside the 10-yard line, the hang time, we’re super excited to have him join the team,” Sarkisian said.
