Texas TE Peyton Aucoin announces his transfer

On Friday, Texas Longhorns redshirt freshman tight end Peyton Aucoin announced that he is transferring from the program:

The departure of the Louisiana product from Austin less than a year after arriving is rather perplexing from the standpoint that Aucoin was one of only three scholarship tight ends on campus this spring.

However, the fact that the staff has been holding spring exit interviews with players provides a little bit more perspective on what happened, especially since Aucoin framed the decision as at least a little bit mutual.

The 6’4, 243-pounder committed to Texas in July of 2015 after a visit to Florida and eventually ranked as a consensus three-star prospect and the No. 48 tight end nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Known as the blocking counterpart to pass-catching tight end Irvin Smith at Brother Martin in New Orleans, Aucoin was likewise regarded as the best in-line blocker on the Texas roster, though there was hardly much competition.

The departure leaves the Longhorns with senior Andrew Beck and junior Garrett Gray at the position. Head coach Tom Herman indicated during the spring that Gray, a former wide receiver, will need some time to grow into the role physically.

So too will 2017 signee Cade Brewer, another big receiver from Lake Travis. Meanwhile, the other tight end signee in the class, Reese Leitao, is currently going through the legal process after his late February felony drug charge.

As a result of those depth issues, Herman and position coach Corby Meekins secured the services of Syracuse graduate transfer Kendall Moore.