Texas DL Myron Warren removes his name from the NCAA transfer portal

Myron Warren’s stay in the NCAA transfer portal was a brief one.

Less than three days after the news broke that the Texas Longhorns redshirt freshman entered his name into the portal, Warren’s name was removed by Monday morning, according to reports from Inside Texas and other outlets.

Warren is now the fourth Texas player who entered and then withdrew from the transfer portal this offseason, joining junior linebacker Juwan Mitchell, redshirt senior offensive lineman Denzel Okafor, and junior cornerback Anthony Cook. As Max Olson of The Athletic called it, that’s some elite portal defense.

It’s just a new reality of college football, and given that reality, the Longhorns coaching staff is making the most of their opportunities to re-recruit players to keep them in the program.

A 6’2, 290-pounder from Many, Louisiana, Warren was an early TCU commit who received a Texas offer during his breakout senior season and joined the 2019 Longhorns class after taking an official visit to Austin.

After compiling 85 tackles, 30 tackles for loss, and 14 sacks as a senior, Warren finished as a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 17 strong-side defensive end nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings and came to Austin as a raw athlete with high upside.

Warren redshirted during his freshman season and was set to enter preseason camp in a crowded group of players challenging for a spots in the rotations at strong-side defensive end and three-technique defensive tackle in new defensive coordinator Chris Ash’s four-down scheme.

The last preseason depth chart projected that nine players are competing at those two positions, and that’s without including the possibility that redshirt sophomore Keondre Coburn and sophomore T’Vondre Sweat could pair together in some combination at nose tackle and the three technique.

Texas also signed two big-time defensive line prospects in 2020 in Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton, both around Warren’s weight and projected to compete at the same two positions. Those newcomers drew some public praise from head coach Tom Herman during Friday’s media availability for looking the part of future impact players.

So Warren has plenty of competition for playing time, but with the season now in jeopardy this fall, he could end up having more time than he expected to compete for playing time.