USF Bulls: 2026 Transfer Portal Overview

The transfer portal gives, and the portal takes. In the case of the USF Bulls, the transfer portal did exactly that, and then some.

To no surprise, many of the USF players in the portal followed former head coach Alex Golesh to Auburn. Many other players landed at alternate destinations. All in all, a tough task was ahead for new head coach Brian Hartline and his staff in taking over this Bulls’ football program, as they undoubtedly had plenty of rebuilding to do. And it seems that they are off to a good start: USF’s 2026 transfer class is ranked 53rd overall, according to 24-7 Sports, as the Bulls welcome 41 newcomers to Tampa.

Let’s simplify the chaotic-nature of this year’s 2-week portal window and highlight some of the numbers, additions, and what to know about USF’s 2026 transfer portal class.

USF 2026 Transfer Portal Overview

By the Numbers

Among USF’s 41 portal additions, 22 of came from Power 4 programs. This includes Florida, West Virginia, Purdue, and Ohio State. 13 players within this class earned either a four or five-star prospect rating out of high school.

Ranked the No.1 portal class out of the Group of 6, the Bulls added 21 offensive players, 18 on defense, and two specialists. Breaking it down even further, this offensive group is comprised of four quarterbacks, six wide receivers, two running backs, three tight ends, and six offensive linemen.

On defense, the new additions include four cornerbacks, five safeties/STARs, four defensive linemen, and five linebackers/jack’s. There are two new specialists on the special teams unit as well.

The portal class includes 17 early signees and 53 returners, bringing the Bulls’ current roster to 111 players.

Players to Know

In the modern college football landscape, you are going to inevitably lose players to the portal, and USF had that happen. The Bulls initially had 34 players enter the portal. Running back Alvon Issac is the only USF player who entered the  transfer portal but withdrew and will return to the Bulls in 2026.

On defense, USF’s first portal signing came from A’mon Lane-Ganus, a cornerback from Auburn. They then added linebacker Grayson Howard and cornerback Teddy Foster from Florida, and the former Gators are expected to make a splash in Josh Aldridge’s unit.

In the secondary, USF added Tayvion Beasley (BYU), Malcolm Ziglar (UNC), and Israel Boyce (West Virginia). Asani Redwood, a defensive lineman from West Virginia, comes along with several more newcomers to the defensive line.

The offense saw an abundance of new talent come on board during the cycle, too. Jason Collins Jr. from  Morgan State and D.J. Crowther from Dartmouth are the two running back transfers who will join the Bulls in the backfield. Additionally, the wide receiver unit has only grown more dynamic with Ahmad Branch from Purdue, UTEP’s Kenny Odom, and Bryson Rodgers of Ohio State. Kade Caton from Oregon will also be joining the tight ends room.

On the offensive line, Jaylin Acevedo is a recent addition from Navy, making the journey to the Bay along with the likes of Michael Wooten (Arizona) and Caleb Cook (Georgia Southern).

The two specialists joining the special teams unit are long snapper Don Volante and kicker Lawson Thorn. Volante made the switch from West Florida, and Thorn arrives from Wingate.

A Brand-New QB Room

USF is going into the 2026 season with a completely new quarterback unit, as they brought in four transfers from the portal.

The first signee of the class was Luke Kromenhoek, a redshirt sophomore from Mississippi State. Coach Hartline and his staff made another splash with Michael Van Buren Jr., who arrives from LSU. Jayden Bradford is a redshirt sophomore who transferred from Liberty, and KJ Cooper is a redshirt senior who was added from Texas Southern.

Kromenhoek previously took snaps as a backup at both Florida State and Mississippi State. In his time at FSU, he passed for 502 yards and three touchdowns with a 52.4% completion rate. Upon transferring to Mississippi State, he threw for 73 yards in the 2025 season.

Van Buren Jr. also played at Mississippi State in 2024, where he threw for 1,886 yards on 246 pass attempts, with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. After transferring to LSU, he tallied 1,010 on 151 passes with eight touchdowns and two interceptions in his 2025 season. He threw for at least one touchdown in six of his seven games played this past season, and one of his most notable performances came in LSU’s dominant victory over Southeastern Louisiana, where he tallied an 83.3-percent completion rate.

Jayden Bradford has only received one collegiate snap in his time at Liberty. However, he had an 18-1 record as a starting quarterback during his junior and senior seasons at IMG Academy. Throughout his two seasons at IMG, he threw for over 2,500 yards and 37 touchdowns for a 68-percent completion rate.

KJ Cooper previously received snaps at both Minnesota State Community and Technical College before playing for Texas Southern. In three games at Minnesota State C&TC, Cooper completed 935 yards on 98 passes for seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. His season-best came in the season-opener, where he threw for 403 yards and three touchdowns. KJ then transferred to Texas Southern, where he would spend the 2024 and 2025 seasons. While he had limited playing time in his first year, Cooper took the field for 10 games in 2025, recording 1,626 yards on 261 passes with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. He was also impressive in the rushing attack, running for 292 yards and four touchdowns.

Hartline’s Remarks and Looking Ahead

Coach Hartline noted that recruiting players who want to compete and having “hard conversations” were vital to navigating this portal cycle.

“Why USF – why here? Why didn’t it work potentially at the other place? And to have those hard conversations was alarming for some. But the ones who really want to be here for the right reasons, they still chose here. And as a result, the biggest emphasis for us was not necessarily the best players, but the right players.”

“And, frankly, what I told everyone that came in, there are still 40,50 guys in that team room. This is their home, right? They were here. They’ve sweat, they’ve bled, they’ve invested in this building. We have not. We are not in a position of walking in here, whether we’re new players or a new coaching staff or a new head coach, and thinking that this is now my house. It is not my house. It is his house, their house. It’s my job to earn their respect. It’s my job for the new players to earn their respect. If we can have that thought process and that accountability, I think that in the end we’ll be where we want to be”.

The Bulls begin spring practices on March 11 and conclude with the annual spring game on April 19.