Texas A&M football fans were caught by surprise by the announcement this morning that true freshman offensive lineman Jonte Newman intends to enter the transfer portal after only one season on campus for the Aggies. Newman did not see time in any games this fall, though fans got a look at him in the spring game last year.
Newman becomes the seventh offensive lineman to depart the Aggie program after 2025, though the other six are all headed to the NFL draft. With such an overhaul happening, it is possible that Newman could have seen some snaps in the upcoming year, but he is apparently deciding to seek those snaps at a different program.
Texas A&M loses freshman OL Jonte Newman to transfer portal unexpectedly
The news broke this morning per Pete Nakos of On3:
NEW: Texas A&M OT Jonte Newman plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, @PeteNakos reports. https://t.co/rddqTFhHQ1 pic.twitter.com/BplqmCabX4
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) January 9, 2026
The fact that On3 used a photo of Dametrious Crownover notwithstanding (did they think the SEC Graduate patch made much sense on a true freshman?), this is a loss that the Aggies didn't really want to sustain. Newman was not highly rated coming out of high school, but the Aggies felt as though they had found a diamond in the rough when they picked him up.
That said, Newman was one member of a six-man offensive line class, joining Lamont Rogers, Marcus Garcia, Tyler Thomas, Nelson McGuire, and Josh Moses. You don't take that many OL in one class without the expectation that you could see some attrition at the position.
Though the Aggies would have rather kept Newman in house, they are still prepared for this eventuality. They have brought in quite a high level of SEC experience along the OL via the portal already and are excited about some of the other prospects still developing in the program.
This is a bit of a hit, but the Aggies will be just fine. Best of luck to Jonte at his next stop.