Tulsa TE Recruiting Overview: Transfer Portal Targets / Visits / Offers
As the new Tulsa football coaching staff continues to hit the recruiting trail, scouring the transfer portal and hunting for high school gems, we take a look at where things stand at the tight end position.
If there's one spot Tulsa has had a bit of difficulty making headway in the transfer portal, it's at tight end. And it just so happens to be a major need for the Hurricane, as TU has gone from five scholarship tight ends to just one.
Stalwart Ethan Hall has exhausted his eligibility after playing his sixth season at Tulsa in 2024. He finished his career with 215 yards and 3 touchdowns on 29 receptions in 52 games.
Former Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson brought in some quality tight end talent through high school recruiting the past two years. Unfortunately, 2024 signee Jewlyen Roberts is the only one that didn't hit the transfer portal in December. The former 3-star prospect that chose TU over offers from Arizona State, Texas Tech, Pitt and Washington State is the lone scholarship tight end at the moment.
Tulsa's other 2024 tight end signee, Jackson Ford, entered the transfer portal and ultimately signed with San Diego State. He came to TU as a 3-star prospect that had offers from Cal, Houston, Oregon, Texas Tech and others.
TU lost two other very talented young tight ends through the portal -- sophomore Luke McGary and redshirt sophomore Connor Vaughn.
At 6-3, 240, McGary had 346 yards and 4 touchdowns on 26 receptions during his two seasons at Tulsa. Vaughn, a 6-foot-4 and 244-pounder, collected 59 yards and 3 TDs on 7 receptions in 2024. McGary signed with Houston in December, and Vaughn has signed with North Texas.
That leaves Tulsa with several spots to fill in the tight end room. The new Hurricane coaching staff has offered close to 15 tight ends in the transfer portal. At least two tight ends have been on the TU campus for visits, and two more are expected this weekend, but Tulsa is yet to come up with a commitment thus far.
The first tight end to visit was New Mexico's Trace Bruckler. The 6-3, 245-pounder played in 39 games with 24 starts for the Lobos, amassing 421 yards and 5 touchdowns on 46 receptions in his career. He visited Tulsa on the weekend of December 21; however, he just came off a visit to Ole Miss and committed to the Rebels yesterday.
Tulsa is hoping to have better luck with the three tight ends visiting this week, including Houston's Matt Byrnes, who hit the TU campus this past Tuesday.
Byrnes (6-6, 245) is a Chicago native that also played at Iowa Western Community College, where he had 14 receptions for 170 yards and a touchdown in 8 games. He then played 850 snaps in his first two seasons at Houston, earning a starting role, but he missed the 2024 season due to injury.
