2026 NC Football Transfers (Seven FBS Teams):
Enrollees/Signees/Commitments
(Incoming)
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Jan. 6, 2026)
(Details on the 2026 OUTGOING transfers from North Carolina’s seven FBS programs can be found HERE.)
Thanks to the NCAA’s creation of the transfer portal in 2018, then the organization’s revolutionary 2021 rule change that allowed first-time transfers to be immediately eligible at their new school, the manner in which college football teams are built and sustained has changed dramatically.
Just on Jan. 2, the first day of the shortened (Jan. 2-16) 2025-26 transfer window, more than 4,000 players at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) levels entered the portal. That action enabled other schools to initiate official contact and for players to arrange one or more official campus visit, if desired.
Last year, during the 2024-25 cycle, more than 8,000 FBS/FCS players entered the portal. That marked another new record, as did the numbers from 2022-23 and 2023-24 at the time they occurred.
Meanwhile, all across college football, the percentage of players who joined their program as a major college transfer (rather than straight from the high school ranks) has reached unprecedented levels. Accordingly, the percentage of transfers on all-conference squads has never been higher.
In the Atlantic Coast Conference, for example, roughly half of the first-team All-ACC selections from the 2024 and 2025 seasons were transfers.
Among the 13 offensive players on the 2025 All-ACC first team, nine were major college transfers: Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King (Texas A&M), NC State running back Hollywood Smothers (Oklahoma), Virginia running back J’Mari Taylor (NC Central), Florida State wide receiver Duce Robinson (Southern Cal), NC State tight end Justin Joly (UConn), Cal all-purpose back Jacob De Jesus (UNLV), Georgia Tech guard Keylan Rutledge (Middle Tennessee), SMU guard Logan Parr (Texas) and Florida State center Luke Petitbon (Wake Forest).
NCAA rules previously provided for two transfer windows in football each year. For the 2024-25 cycle, the early window ran from Dec. 9-28. (The Dec. 28 deadline was simply for portal entry; the timeline for selecting a new school — then and now — is tied more practically to universities’ spring semesters, which typically begin in mid-January.) The late window, designed to follow spring practice, ran from April 16-25. Both windows were shortened from those in the 2023-24 transfer cycle.
Reminder: The incoming transfers below are listed with their class/eligibility for the upcoming (2026) season. Under recently revised NCAA rules, virtually all major college transfers are immediately eligible at their new school.
2026 NC Transfer Commitments/Signees
(Enrolled/Incoming)
Appalachian State (2)
SE Missouri State/FCS DT Jehchys Brown, r-Jr. (backup; 34 career tackles, 4.5 TFL, 3 sacks; 6-2, 290 pounds)
Purdue QB Malachi Singleton, r-Jr. (backup; 59-92 career passing, 797 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT; ex-Arkansas)
Charlotte (4)
App State RB/KR Khamani Alexander, r-So. (career reserve; 12 career carries, 50 yards; 18 KR, 359 yards)
Kansas CB/KR Jameel Croft Jr., r-Jr. (career reserve; 6-0, 195 pounds)
Maine/FCS OC Nic Cruji, r-Sr. (3-year starter; 6-4, 305 pounds)
Maryland S Shamar McIntosh, r-So. (career reserve; 6-0, 198 pounds)
Duke (6)
Coastal Carolina LT Nick Del Grande, r-Sr. (2x HM All-Sun Belt; 3-year starter; 6-4, 302 pounds)
Western Kentucky CB Dylan Flowers, Gr. (part-time starter; 6th-year senior; ex-juco/BYU/Southern Utah)
Louisville TE Nate Kurisky, r-Sr. (2023 starter; 16 career starts, 50 catches, 410 yards, 7 TD)
Montana/FCS CB Kyon Loud, Jr. (starter; 43 career tackles, 2 TFL, 6 PD; 6-2, 175 pounds)
Penn/FCS WR Jared Richardson, r-Sr. (3x All-Ivy; 193 career catches, 2,505 yards, 27 TD; 6-2, 220 pounds)
Penn State DT Owen Wafle, r-So. (backup; 4 career tackles; 6-2, 292 pounds; ex-Michigan)
East Carolina (5)
North Texas RB Ashton Gray, r-So. (backup; 58 career carries, 377 yards, 5 TD; 6-0, 208 pounds)
Furman/FCS WR Ja’Keith Hamilton, r-Jr. (starter; 49 career catches, 588 yards, 5 TD; 6-2, 206 pounds)
FIU CB Ashton Levells, r-Sr. (part-time starter; 6th-year senior; 63 career tackles; ex-juco/UTPB)
UCF CB Christian Peterson, Jr. (backup; 19 GP, mostly on special teams; 5-9, 1185 pounds)
UTRGV/FCS TE Ismael Smith Flores, r-Jr. (starter; 20 career catches, 244 yards, 6 TD; 6-5, 255 pounds; ex-Nebraska)
North Carolina (10)
Louisiana-Monroe WR Jonathan Bibbs, r-So. (part-time starter; 27 career catches, 448 yards, 4 TD)
Florida DE Tarvorise Brown, r-Jr. (career reserve; 6-7, 296 pounds; ex-juco)
Wisconsin QB Billy Edwards Jr., Gr. (injured 2025; 6th-year senior; 16 career starts, 318-512 passing, 3,435 yards, 19 TD, 10 INT; also WFU/Maryland)
Penn State DE Jaylen Harvey, r-So. (backup; 1 career start, 10 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 sack)
Wisconsin WR/KR Trech Kekahuna, r-Jr. (part-time starter; 55 career catches, 614 yards, 3 TD)
Texas A&M QB Miles O’Neill, r-So. (backup; 12-20 career passing, 171 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT; 6-5, 220 pounds; 4-star MA HS prospect)
Baylor LT Sean Thompkins, r-Jr. (part-time starter; 5 career starts; 6-5, 300 pounds)
Charleston Southern/FCS OL Andrew Threatt, Sr. (1st-team All-OVC/Big South; 3-year starter at LG/RT; 6-3, 315 pounds)
Colorado State TE Jaxxon Warren, r-So. (starter/injured; 24 career catches, 403 yards, 3 TD; 6-8, 245 pounds; ex-juco/North Texas)
Michigan State CB Ade Willie, r-Sr. (starter/injured; 7 career starts, 34 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 PD; 6-1, 190 pounds)
NC State (2)
East Carolina LT Jimarion McCrimon, r-Jr. (1st-team All-AAC; 2-year starter; 6-5, 307 pounds)
Buffalo WR Victor Snow, r-Sr. (1st-team All-MAC; 119 career catches, 1,479 yards, 18 TD; ex-Nevada)
Wake Forest (5)
Georgia State CB Bernard Causey III, r-So. (starter; 19 career tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 6 PD, 1 FF; ex-LSU)
Florida RB KD Daniels, r-So. (backup; 39 career carries, 197 yards, 2 TD; 4-star MS HS prospect)
New Hampshire/FCS OT Tolu Olajide, Gr. (1st-team All-CAA; 2-year starter; 6-5, 300 pounds; ex-Stonehill)
Iowa State S Josh Patterson, r-Fr. (backup/redshirt; brother of Wake CB Davaughn Patterson)
Duke WR Chase Tyler, r-So. (backup; 5 career catches, 121 yards, 0 TD; 4-star GA HS prospect)
NOTE1: Eligibility listed is for upcoming (2026) season.
NOTE2: References to high school recruiting rankings from 247 Sports Composite.
