Austin native Markus Boswell returns to Texas, fortifying a thin linebacker corps with much-needed depth and experience via the transfer portal.
Depth isn’t glamorous, but in the SEC, it’s survival. And this offseason, the Texas Longhorns are making sure they’re not caught short at linebacker ever again.
Texas quietly bolstered its second level by adding Akron transfer Markus Boswell, an Austin native whose path back home feels equal parts football decision and family reunion.
If the last name sounds familiar, it should.
Boswell is the son of Mark Boswell, a former Longhorn and Olympic high jumper who once flew higher than most linebackers ever will.
The younger Boswell’s game is a bit more grounded, and that’s a compliment.
After spending a season with Akron, Boswell arrives in Austin with three years of eligibility remaining and a stat line that doesn’t scream headline but absolutely whispers reliability.
Nineteen tackles, a sack, and an interception may not light up social media, but for a defense that watched its linebacker depth evaporate via the transfer portal, those numbers matter.
Texas needed bodies. Boswell provides one, and a versatile one at that.
He projects as a Mike linebacker in Will Muschamp’s defensive system, a role that requires communication, discipline, and the ability to clean up mistakes before they turn into explosive plays.
In other words, the kind of position where knowing where to be is just as important as raw athleticism.
The Longhorns lost Bo Barnes and Liona Lefau to the portal, thinning a room that already felt one rolled ankle away from emergency measures.
Boswell becomes the fourth linebacker Texas has added this offseason, joining Florida State transfer Justin Cryer and Pitt transfer Rasheem Biles.
Add in TyAnthony Smith, who proved he could handle real snaps after Anthony Hill’s injury, plus five-star freshman Tyler Atkinson, and suddenly the linebacker room looks, well, functional again. Maybe even competitive.
Boswell won’t be asked to carry the defense. That’s not the job. His job is to show up, line up correctly, and make life easier for everyone else. If he does that, Texas wins even if his name never trends.
Sometimes the most important portal additions aren’t stars. They’re safety nets.
And Texas just installed one right in the middle of its defense.