The 2026 transfer portal window opens January 2 and lasts 15 days through January 16, 2026.

Despite the portal not yet being officially open, the floodgates with portal announcements around college football began soon after conference championship weekend in early December. 

The Aztecs, with a bowl game to be played on December 27, only had three players announce their departures before the game. However, in the few days since the New Mexico Bowl, the floodgates have opened. 

As of the publishing of this article, 13 players from the 2025 roster have announced their intention to enter the transfer portal. 

The biggest losses are on the defensive side. Two starters, All-Conference First-Team LB Owen Chambliss and S Dwayne McDougle, are departing. Chambliss (110 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 4 sacks) is widely expected to follow DC Rob Aurich to Nebraska. McDougle (55 tackles, 4 INTs) played under Aurich at Idaho and SDSU and could join them as well. 

EDGE Ryan Henderso, only started two games this season, but was one of the primary players on the second unit (417 snaps), also is departing. Henderson was tied for a team-high seven sacks in 2025. 

All three defenders graded above 70 in Pro Football Focus (PFF) defense grades in 2025, helping lead the Aztecs to one of the best defenses in the country. 

Two other EDGEs, Jared Badie and Aust Salvati, announced their intentions to enter the portal before the New Mexico Bowl and left the team. Both situational pass rushers saw action in the Aztecs’ “cheetah” package deployed on obvious passing downs. 

EDGE Trey White has not yet announced his decision to return to SDSU or enter the portal and play elsewhere for his final season. 

Freshman LB Jeremiah Tuiileila, who redshirted this season, also announced his departure. 

The six offensive players entering the portal are mostly backup or third-string players who did not see the field much in their time at SDSU. WR Mikey Welsh is the lone exception. He earned a scholarship for the 2025 season, played 131 snaps, and caught 12 passes for 129 passes. 

Other receivers such as Jerry McClure, Marcus Mozer, and Ben Scolari are moving on as well. 

QB Kyle Crum came on in relief in the New Mexico Bowl and almost led the Aztecs to a 22-point comeback. The redshirt junior had not thrown a pass since his true freshman year, and his prospects of becoming a starter under Sean Lewis never materialized. 

True freshman QB JP Mialovski will not end up playing a single snap for the Aztecs. He announced before the bowl game that he would enter the portal after his redshirt season. 

Finally, backup P Tashi Dorje will not return as he was blocked by All-Conference Honorable Mention P Hunter Green for a starting opportunity. Dorje booted three punts with a 50 average this year. 

More Staff Changes

After Demetrius Sumler was officially named the permanent defensive coordinator, Sean Lewis and Sumler went to work replacing the open position roles with Aurich and Roy Manning departures. 

Per ESPN, SDSU is hiring Colin Ferrell as the new EDGEs coach and Scott White as the new LBs coach. Ferrell was an assistant on Lewis’ staff at Kent State, first as an outside LBs coach in 2018 and as DL coach from 2019 through 2022. After one more season at Kent State following Lewis’s departure, Ferrell coached the DL at Rutgers the past two years. His hiring has not been made official, but Ferrell was on the SDSU sideline during the New Mexico Bowl. 

White does not have a direct coaching tie to Lewis, but has his roots in the state of California, including as an assistant coach at nearby Palomar College in 2010. White spent seven years at UCLA (2011-2017), six years at San Jose State (2018-2023), and returned to UCLA in 2024. In 2025, he was named the associate head coach and inside linebackers coach. 

Just yesterday, ESPN reported that OL coach Mike Schmidt would be hired away as the new OL coach at Kansas State and that Bill O’Boyle would be returning to SDSU to replace Schmidt. O’Boyle coached under Lewis at Kent State and Colorado and joined him at SDSU in December 2023 before departing for Northwestern a month later. With Northwestern’s recent hire of Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator, O’Boyle was not retained on his staff.

Andre Haghverdian

Avid sports fan and historian of basketball, baseball, football and soccer. UC San Diego and San Diego State alumni living in America’s Finest City. Diverse team following across multiple sports leagues, but Aztecs come first in college athletics.