Arizona transfer defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea is in Texas for a formal visit.
Through the NCAA transfer site, the Longhorns may finally be able to get a defensive tackle because of Johnny Nansen's connections to the Wildcats.
Tiaoalii Savea, a defensive tackle transferred from the Arizona Wildcats, will make an official visit to the Texas Longhorns this weekend. Head coach Steve Sarkisian is looking to add a veteran to the position after T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy left.
— Tiaoalii A. Savea (@T3ezyy) January 20, 2024
The 6’4″, 305-pound player signed on to the NCAA via the transfer portal on Friday, one day after Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch left for Washington. After served as Savea’s major recruiter when he signed with UCLA out of high school and as his defensive coordinator for the previous two seasons, Johnny Nansen, the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at New Texas, has a tight relationship with Savea.
After playing along the offensive line in high school, Savea was rated as the No. 226 player nationally and the No. 31 defensive lineman by the 247Sports Composite rankings. Savea was a consensus four-star talent out of Las Vegas, Nevada’s Desert Pines in the 2021 recruiting class. In addition to Arizona, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, TCU, Tennessee, and USC, Savea also accepted offers from these additional schools before signing with UCLA.
Before moving to Tuscson with Nansen, Savea played ten games and recorded seven tackles during his time at UCLA. In 2022, Savea played in seven games for the Wildcats, totaling 14 tackles (8 solo, 6 assist). He helped Arizona defeat UCLA in the Rose Bowl by recording 1.5 tackles for loss, one pass breakup, one fumble recovery, and one blocked kick. Savea made 22 tackles, six tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and three quarterback hurries in 12 games as a junior.
In order to support the growth of young defensive tackles like redshirt freshman Sydir Mitchell and redshirt sophomore Aaron Bryant, Texas needs assistance behind fifth-year senior Alfred Collins. The only other obvious transfer portal target at the position, former Houston star Ja’Maree Caldwell, chose Oregon, but even in the absence of a defensive line coach named Bo Davis’ successor, the Longhorns should find it easy to recruit Nansen given their close relationship with Savea.
