Texas gets commitment from transfer linebacker from Florida State
Published:
Texas beefed up its linebacking core for the 2026 season with the commitment of a transfer from a prominent ACC program.
The Longhorns got that commitment from Florida State transfer linebacker Justin Cryer, who spent his past 3 seasons in Tallahassee but is now heading to Austin and the SEC. Cryer told On3’s Hayes Fawcett on Friday night of his decision to bolt to Texas.
Getting that commitment from Cryer is huge for Texas, which has taken a bunch of punches at the position just since the end of the 2025 regular season. Anthony Hill Jr. and Trey Moore both declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, and Liona Lefau entered the transfer portal before committing to Colorado. Texas was able to keep Ty’Anthony Smith, and now the Longhorns are getting their hands on a productive player from a Power 4 program.
Cryer piled up 86 tackles, 1 sack and 1 interception during his 3-year run at Florida State, and Texas hopes those numbers translate to the SEC in 2026.
This will amount to an unofficial Lone Star State homecoming for Cryer, who is a product of Brookshire, Texas, which is in the Houston area. Cryer was originally enrolled at Northwestern during the 2023 recruiting cycle before entering the transfer portal and heading to FSU instead.
Cryer, who appeared in 34 games during his time in Tallahassee, will now join forces with new Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, the former head coach at Florida and South Carolina.
‘
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
