For the 22 players that joined Texas football in the portal this offseason, adapting to life as a Longhorn between the lines has been simple.
Many of the new faces are surrounded by more blue-chip recruits than at their previous schools, but the game remains the same: Study the playbook, know the assignments, make plays.
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But when it comes to life off the field in Austin, things can get a bit more complicated for the newcomers.
Just ask linebacker Rasheem Biles, a senior from Columbus, Ohio, who played his three previous collegiate seasons at Pittsburgh. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Biles immediately caught the attention of the Texas coaches when he arrived in the spring with the way he flew around the field and flashed a nose for the ball.
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Texas linebacker Rasheem Biles (3) runs a drill as Texas holds their second practice of the summer in preparation for the 2026 season, Aug. 6, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Unfortunately for Biles, he also caught the attention of the University of Texas parking police, who historically boast better coverage skills than any Longhorn. Biles piled up tickets while trying to figure out the Byzantine rules and regulations that make up parking on the Forty Acres.
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But to the linebacker’s credit, he learned from his spring mistakes.
“I ain’t worried about the tickets no more,” Biles said after a recent summer practice. “I’ve been good with the tickets. I’ve been parking in the garage. I’m good now.”
But new star receiver Cam Coleman can’t say the same about getting around Austin, which has blossomed into the 12th-biggest city in the U.S. with 1.01 million people.
“You heard me say it once, and I’m saying it again: Traffic,” said the Auburn transfer about his biggest adjustment to Austin. “I tell you, it’s traffic every day, and I feel like it just gets worse by the day.”
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To put Coleman’s complaints in context, he grew up on the Alabama side of the suburbs of Columbus, Georgia, a bustling city but only with about 200,000 people. He then spent two seasons playing in the Georgia town of Auburn, which has about 76,000.
But Coleman also appreciates the benefits of living in a bigger city, too.
Texas Longhorns defensive back Bo Mascoe (5) catches a ball during a drill as Texas holds their second practice of the summer in preparation for the 2026 season, Aug. 6, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
“It’s got a lot of different cultures around here, too, and it’s just a lot of good food around here,” he said.
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But there aren’t a lot of cowboys, much to the surprise of Bo Mascoe. The senior starting cornerback, a transfer from Rutgers, grew up in the Florida town of Kissimmee on the southern edge of Orlando. He didn’t know anything about Austin until he took his one visit as a transfer last winter.
“I thought it was going to be more country, but I mean, it’s cool,” Mascoe said. “I’m loving it out here, though.”
So, Mascoe thought students would be riding up to Jester Center and hitching their horse to a post outside a dorm room?
“I ain’t gonna lie, I kind of did,” he said. “Then they told me it wasn’t really that. I’m just peeping.”
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Senior linebacker Justin Cryer, who played the previous three seasons at Florida State, didn’t need an introduction to his new home. The starting linebacker grew up in the Houston suburb of Katy and understood that Austin was more about tech and Teslas than spurs and saddles.
“Coming back home definitely was something that was really important to me,” said Cryer, whose brother, LJ Cryer, played basketball at both Baylor and Houston. “Growing up in the state, you know who the premier state school is. And once I got the opportunity when I was in the transfer portal, I knew this is kind of where I wanted to be at. Can’t pass up the opportunity.”