2026 SPRING FOOTBALL ROSTER
Bulls portal additions include 13 players that were rated four or five star prospects out of high school

TAMPA, FLA., JAN. 28, 2026 – South Florida Football Head Coach Brian Hartline and his staff welcomed 41 players to the Bulls' roster in the January transfer portal period.

The Bulls portal class was ranked No. 1 in The American and the best among all Group of 6 programs by 247Sports. Among the 41 players who have joined the Bulls through the portal in 2026, 12 were rated four-star prospects out of high school, and one earned a five-star rating. The Bulls signed 24 players coming to Tampa from Power Four programs, while four have earned all-conference honors in Division I football and one was named an NJCAA First Team All-American. Seven of the transfer additions are from the state of Florida, and four are returning to the Bay area.

The 41 news Bulls include 21 players on offense, 18 on defense, and two specialists, joining the 17 new Bulls Hartline and his staff secured during the December NCAA Early Signing Period. The Bulls have 58 new players as they approach the NCAA Late Signing Period, which begins on Wed., Feb. 4.

South Florida returns 54 players from the 2025 roster that earned the Bulls a third straight bowl appearance and a 9-4 record.

The transfer additions will join 12 early enrollees from the Bulls' 2026 Early Signing Class for winter training, which is ongoing, and spring football practices set to begin in March.

Among the transfer additions the Bulls welcomed on the offensive side of the ball were four quarterbacks, including former four-star prospects Luke Kromenhoek (Mississippi State) and Michael Van Buren Jr. (LSU), Jayden Bradford (Liberty), and KJ Cooper (Texas Southern).

The Bulls also welcomed six wide receivers – five of whom were rated as four-star recruits out of high school, and six who are seniors. Six offensive linemen – including four seniors – also came through the portal, as did three tight ends and two running backs.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulls welcomed nine defensive backs – three who were four-star prospects out of high school and eight who came to South Florida from a Power Four program. Four defensive linemen joined the Bulls, as did two linebackers – Grayson Howard (Florida) and Sam Robinson (Rutgers), both of whom were rated four-star prospects out of high school. The Bulls also added three players at the Jack position in defensive coordinator Josh Aldridge's defense – including former five-star prospect C.J. Hicks (Ohio State). Fifteen of the Bulls' 18 additions on defense come to Tampa from Power Four programs.

South Florida also added a kicker and a long snapper to round out its portal class.

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ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 29th season in 2025. In 2025, the Bulls went 9-4, earned a third straight bowl appearance, made the program's first College Football Playoff ranking appearance, and were ranked four times in the weekly AP Top 25 poll. USF completed construction on a new $22-million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023, and a $349-million on-campus stadium and football operations center broke ground in the fall of 2024 and is slated for completion by 2027. The Bulls have posted 18 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including two consensus selections, the last coming in 2021), and 35 first-team all-conference honorees. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, while the Bulls have made 13 bowl game appearances (going 8-5), which is tied for the third-most in the first 25 seasons of a program's bowl eligibility. USF posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016, while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and reached as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press rankings during the 2007 season.