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Which central Ohio college football players moved in transfer portal?

Published

2 months ago

January 19, 2026

Which central Ohio college football players moved in transfer portal?

The transfer window in college football closed Jan. 16, and several players from central Ohio were among the thousands nationwide who took advantage in finding new teams.

Some of them found familiarity in moving, whether with former teammates, coaches who previously recruited them or both.

Here are the Columbus-area players who transferred to Football Bowl Subdivision programs in the past two weeks, according to the On3 transfer tracker. Players’ new schools are listed next to their names, with their previous school in parentheses:

Braydon Alford, Michigan (Butler)

Position: Wide receiver

Class: Sophomore

Eligibility remaining: Three seasons

High school: Dublin Jerome

The son of Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford, who formerly coached the same position at Ohio State, Braydon Alford did not appear in any games in two seasons at Butler after a high school career that saw him catch 90 passes with 1,487 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior at Jerome. Alford earned third-team all-state in Division I as a senior.

Landon Beal, Ohio State (Maine)

Position: Long snapper

Class: Redshirt freshman

Eligibility remaining: Three seasons

High school: Grove City

The 6-foot Beal long snapped for the Dawgs and did the same this past season at Maine after redshirting his first year with the Black Bears in 2024. Beal was the second long snapper picked up by the Buckeyes in the portal, after Dalton Riggs was added from Central Florida.

Rasheem Biles, Texas (Pittsburgh)

Position: Linebacker

Class: Junior

Eligibility remaining: One season

High school: Pickerington Central

The two-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference linebacker and the top-ranked transfer at his position, according to 247Sports, is headed to the SEC for his final college season.

Biles had 101 tackles, including 17 for loss, and three touchdowns in 10 games in 2025 and 185 total stops and 10 sacks in three years at Pitt. He was a second-team all-district defensive back as a senior at Central despite missing most of the season because of injury.

Biles and the Longhorns host Ohio State on Sept. 12.

Preston Bowman, Ohio University (Kentucky)

Position: Wide receiver

Class: Freshman

Eligibility remaining: Four seasons

High school: Pickerington North

Bowman will join a slew of Pickerington players in Athens after a freshman season at Kentucky in which he redshirted. Bowman caught 52 passes for 1,248 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior at North – he also averaged 34.9 yards per punt – and was named OCC-Ohio Offensive Player of the Year and first-team all-state in Division I.

Francis Brewu, Notre Dame (Pittsburgh)

Position: Defensive lineman

Class: Sophomore

Eligibility remaining: Two seasons

High school: Thomas Worthington

Another departure from Pitt, Brewu will reunite with former position coach Charlie Partridge in South Bend. Brewu, who also visited Ohio State, had 7½ tackles last season with a sack, forced fumble and two quarterback hurries. He had four total sacks in two seasons and, according to a South Bend Tribune story, benches 475 pounds and squats 700. A first-team all-state honoree in Division I as a senior, Brewu started 12 of 13 games in 2025 after overcoming thumb and hamstring issues in 2024.

Kamari Burns, Kansas State (Cincinnati)

Position: Edge rusher

Class: Redshirt sophomore

Eligibility remaining: Two seasons

High school: Gahanna Lincoln

Burns will remain in the Big 12 after playing 11 games without a start this fall for the Bearcats, finishing with 11 tackles and half a sack. Burns, who helped Gahanna reach a Division I state semifinal as a senior and redshirted as a freshman, matched his career high of three tackles in a game twice.

Sam Dixon, South Carolina (Ohio State)

Position: Running back

Class: Redshirt freshman

Eligibility remaining: Three seasons

High school: Pickerington North

Dixon entered the transfer portal after each of the past two seasons and is leaving Columbus this time, having caught on with a Gamecocks team that went 4-8 last fall. Dixon, who played half his senior season at North after transferring from Millersburg West Holmes, ran for 53 yards in four games as a freshman during OSU’s national championship season but never made a dent in the Buckeyes’ rotation of backs this year, running for 9 yards and scoring a touchdown in his only appearance, a Week 2 win over Grambling State.

Terris Dudley, Connecticut (North Carolina State)

Position: Linebacker

Class: Redshirt freshman

Eligibility remaining: Four seasons

High school: Hilliard Bradley

The former safety from Bradley will end up playing for Jason Candle after all, having originally committed to Toledo when Candle was coach of the Rockets before switching to the Wolfpack, for which he did not play a snap in the fall. Candle was hired at Connecticut in December. Dudley had 116 tackles, including 77 solo, as a senior and earned third-team all-state in Division I.

Dawayne Galloway, Akron (West Virginia)

Position: Defensive back

Class: Redshirt freshman

Eligibility remaining: Four seasons

High school: Marion-Franklin

A four-star cornerback in high school who had 1,478 all-purpose yards as a senior in 2024, Galloway did not see any game action as a freshman in Morgantown and retains all of his college eligibility. Akron went 5-7 last season and is seeking its first winning season and bowl appearance since 2017.

Tyler Gillison, Ohio University (Michigan State)

Position: Defensive line

Class: Redshirt junior

Eligibility remaining: Two seasons

High school: Pickerington Central

Gillison’s third college stop brings him back to his home state. He made two tackles in nine games last fall for the Spartans and missed the 2024 season because of injury after two years at Cincinnati. A first-team all-state honoree in Division I as a senior in 2021, Gillison is the younger brother of former Michigan State tight end Trenton Gillison.

Ethan Grunkemeyer, Virginia Tech (Penn State)

Position: Quarterback

Class: Redshirt freshman

Eligibility remaining: Three seasons

High school: Olentangy

Grunkemeyer hopes to build on his late-season success with the Nittany Lions in a new setting but with a familiar coach – James Franklin, who recruited Grunkemeyer to Happy Valley but was fired at midseason. Grunkemeyer threw for 1,339 yards and eight touchdowns with four interceptions in seven games as a starter, guiding Penn State to wins in its final four games. He took over as the starter after Franklin’s firing and the loss of starter Drew Allar to a broken ankle.

Grunkemeyer threw for 3,517 yards and 39 touchdowns as a high school senior in 2023.

Sid Kaba, Minnesota (Marshall)

Position: Defensive lineman

Class: Redshirt sophomore

Eligibility remaining: Two seasons

High school: KIPP Columbus

Kaba comes to the Big Ten after recording 18 total tackles, including 2½ for loss and half a sack, in nine games for the Thundering Herd in 2025. Kaba, a three-star prospect for KIPP and first-team all-state honoree in 2022, started his college career at Western Michigan but did not play a game for the Broncos in 2023 or 2024. He is expected to boost a Golden Gophers defensive tackle group decimated by graduation.

Andrew Marshall, Minnesota (Eastern Michigan)

Position: Linebacker

Class: Junior

Eligibility remaining: Two seasons

High school: Bloom-Carroll

The latest college stop for Marshall, the Division III state Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2022, is Minnesota after he recorded 61 tackles last fall at Eastern Michigan. Marshall, who originally signed with Ohio University and played a year at Lackawanna Community College, has 121 tackles in three college seasons and was an honorable mention All-American at Lackawanna in 2024. He also rushed for 1,099 yards and 14 touchdowns as a high school senior.

Angelo McCullom, Texas A&M (Illinois)

Position: Defensive line

Class: Sophomore

Eligibility remaining: Two seasons

High school: Pickerington North

A three-star recruit out of high school and first-team all-state honoree in Division I as a senior, McCullom started two games at nose tackle last fall – against Ohio State and Washington – and will join an Aggies team coming off a College Football Playoff appearance. McCullom had 21 tackles in 19 games with the Illini, including 2½ sacks.

Roman Pearson, Kansas (Ball State)

Position: Safety

Class: Junior

Eligibility remaining: One season

High school: Pickerington Central

A son of former Ohio State and NFL running back Pepe Pearson, Roman Pearson was a two-year starter at Bucknell before coming to Muncie last fall and recording 27 tackles, an interception and half a tackle for loss. Pearson, who helped Central win the Division I state championship in 2019, had 40 tackles and started 11 games in 2024 at Bucknell.

Hammond Russell IV, Wisconsin (West Virginia)

Position: Defensive line

Class: Redshirt senior

Eligibility remaining: One season

High school: Dublin Coffman

A first-team all-state honoree in Division I as a high school senior, Hammond will finish his college career playing for former Buckeye Luke Fickell with the Badgers. He had 40 tackles the past three seasons for the Mountaineers, including two sacks, 2½ stops for loss and a forced fumble last fall. Younger sister Imarianah led Reynoldsburg’s girls basketball team to the 2022 Division I state championship and played one collegiate season at WVU.

Kaden Saunders, Southern Mississippi (Penn State)

Position: Wide receiver

Class: Graduate

Eligibility remaining: Two seasons

High school: Westerville South

Limited by injuries in four seasons at Penn State, including missing all of 2025, Saunders played in three games in 2022, 12 in 2023 and four in 2024. Saunders, a four-star receiver in high school who had 1,867 career yards and was a two-time first-team all-state selection, had eight catches for 77 yards and a touchdown as a Nittany Lion.

Justin Terry, Virginia Tech (Ohio State)

Position: Offensive line

Class: Redshirt sophomore

Eligibility remaining: Three seasons

High school: Pickerington Central

After one year with the Buckeyes in which he played in six games at right tackle and did not allow a quarterback pressure, according to Pro Football Focus, Terry became the second area product after Grunkemeyer to head to Blacksburg. Terry will be reunited with offensive line coach Matt Moore, who recruited him to West Virginia out of high school and coached with the Mountaineers until 2024. Terry was honorable mention all-state in Division I as a senior at Central.

Ethan Thanthanavong, Kent State (Defiance)

Position: Quarterback

Class: Freshman

Eligibility remaining: Three seasons

High school: Bloom-Carroll

A prolific high school passer with 6,369 yards and 70 touchdowns in four seasons, Thanthanavong is headed to Division I after a freshman season at Defiance in which he completed 112 of 170 passes for 1,468 yards and 10 touchdowns with six interceptions. Thanthanavong saw action in seven of the Yellowjackets’ 11 games. He was Division III district Offensive Player of the Year as a senior and earned first-team all-state.

Jaden Yates, Houston (Mississippi)

Position: Linebacker

Class: Junior

Eligibility remaining: One season

High school: Gahanna Lincoln

Yates’ only season with the Rebels after two years at Marshall ended in a CFP semifinal. One of several Ole Miss players to enter the portal after the departure of coach Lane Kiffin to LSU, Yates had 55 tackles, including 1½ for loss and half a sack, in 2025 and has 181 stops in his college career. His 120 tackles as a sophomore led the Sun Belt Conference and ranked ninth nationally.

High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.

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Ohio BCI breaks ground on new evidence collection building in London, Ohio

Published

9 hours ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Ohio BCI breaks ground on new evidence collection building in London, Ohio

LONDON, Ohio (WSYX) — Officials broke ground on a new evidence collection building for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation in London, a project aimed at strengthening the agency’s crime-scene and cold-case work.

The new facility will replace BCI’s current evidence collection building, which is 800 square feet. Attorney General Dave Yost said the new building is needed to better track evidence and bring justice to victims as DNA technology evolves.

“But this story illustrates why it’s so important to have enough space to be able to hold the materials for these cases, to be able to store them properly, to maintain their integrity, so that when the science does catch up, we’re able to process a rape or a murder case and find the person who did it. There’s nothing that keeps me up at night more than thinking about unsolved cases,” Yost said.

The project is expected to take one year.

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BCI also unveiled a new gun range at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in London, intended to boost officers’ training.

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More than half of Ohio Immigrant Hotline reports came from Columbus area

Published

21 hours ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

More than half of Ohio Immigrant Hotline reports came from Columbus area

A statewide hotline for immigrants in Ohio has seen nearly half its calls come from the Columbus area.
Calls to the Ohio Immigrant Hotline surged after increased ICE activity in Columbus in December 2025.
The hotline connects callers with legal aid, provides financial support, and helps resolve civil rights issues.
More than 500 incidents were reported to the hotline between January 2025 and February 2026.

Nearly half of the more than 500 incidents reported to the Ohio Immigrant Hotline in the past year were from Columbus-area callers.

The hotline, which is run by advocacy group Ohio Immigrant Alliance, serves loved ones of immigrants; immigrants (including those in detention) who need help; ordinary and concerned Ohioans; and professionals who are seeking guidance on how to deal with ICE enforcement actions against their staff, clients, customers and community.

The hotline launched in January 2025, when President Donald Trump took office for his second term, promising increased immigration enforcement. It catalogued 548 incidents between its start and February 2026, according to a report released March 25 titled “Connecting Ohio: The Ohio Immigrant Hotline’s First Year in Action.”

The goal is to provide immediate help and to use data to advocate for systemic change, according to the report.

Of the 548 incidents, 229 happened in an 11-county region of central Ohio. A 21-county region in northeast Ohio had the second-most at 123.

After a wave of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests and activity in December in Columbus, dubbed “Operation Buckeye” by ICE, hotline calls surged and haven’t let up, said Lynn Tramonte, executive director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.

Hotline staffers who speak English, Spanish, French and other languages handled 94 incidents in December.

Before that, the hotline’s busiest month was October, with 40 incidents.

Last year, the hotline averaged 39 incidents a month, the report said, but this year that has ballooned to 96 monthly. Most of the incidents were reported via email, with the most common reports discussing ICE and Border Patrol activity within the state.

Who called the Ohio Immigrant Hotline?

The Ohio Immigrant Alliance often gets requests for help from individuals, but the hotline allowed it to be able to report and track its work, according to the report.

Though some people thought the hotline was ICE’s tip line and reported immigrants’ presence and a few harassing or prank calls, the majority wanted to help immigrants, according to the report.

“It’s heartening,” the report reads, about those wishing to help. “The spirit of solidarity and community in Ohio is real.”

The hotline manager, who the Alliance did not name because of threats to their safety, has often engaged with people in distress, including those who cannot find a loved one they suspect may have been arrested and detained by ICE. There were 73 reports of arrests by ICE or Customs and Border Patrol agents.

The hotline gathers details about those individuals and connects callers with resources to help.

Other callers have included attorneys or friends of detainees calling because medication or other needs are being denied to someone in detention.

What has the hotline accomplished?

The hotline helped people find immigration attorneys; deposited thousands of dollars in immigration detention commissary and phone accounts for 50 people; helped families raise money for attorneys, filing fees, medical needs, and support after deportation; and connected callers to volunteer, donation, and advocacy opportunities.

The hotline also helped defend civil rights and the quality of life for detained immigrants. After reports from immigrants in detention detailed violations of Ramadan meal services, the Ohio Immigrant Hotline notified the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. The ACLU Ohio resolved the issue with leadership at the jail, which was not identified in the report.

The Ohio Immigrant Alliance is also part of a lawsuit due to one report that came in through the hotline.

People can report incidents about ICE arrests and raids to the Ohio Immigrant Hotline, at 419-777-HELP or 4357 or hotline@ohioimmigrant.org. Resources for immigrants and advocates can be found at OhioIsHome.org.

Underserved Communities Reporter Danae King can be reached at dking@dispatch.com or on X at @DanaeKing.

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How mutual connections led Arthur Smith to Ohio State football

Published

1 day ago

March 24, 2026

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How mutual connections led Arthur Smith to Ohio State football

Arthur Smith had only limited familiarity with Ryan Day before being hired as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator over the winter.

He had spent the past decade in the NFL. Their interactions were largely confined to the school’s annual pro day when Smith and other coaches and front office personnel from the league descended upon the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to scout prospects for the draft.

“I didn’t know him really well personally,” Smith said.

But Smith’s recent years offered a unique window into Day and his program, deepening a level of respect he held from afar. During his two seasons as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator, he coached Justin Fields and Will Howard, two former starting quarterbacks for Day at Ohio State.

The mutual connections extended to previous stops. When Smith was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, they drafted defensive end Zach Harrison and traded for cornerback Jeff Okudah in 2023. Both played for Day as well.

“I’ve had such a good experience with some of the players that have come through,” Smith said, “so I was intrigued.”

Smith had not coached in college since 2010, when he was an administrative assistant and intern at Mississippi, and spent little time in recent years considering a return.

But Mike Tomlin’s sudden resignation as the Steelers coach in January left Smith exploring his options.

“We had just been in the playoffs,” Smith said. “It kind of hits you fast in these cycles.”

It allowed him time to give the opportunity at Ohio State a closer look.

“I weighed my options and talked to a lot of people,” Smith said. “It just made sense.”

His list also included Mike Vrabel, the former All-America defensive end for the Buckeyes in the 1990s who also vouched for Day. Smith was on Vrabel’s staffs with the Tennessee Titans from 2018-20, including two seasons as their offensive coordinator.

“He knows Ryan really well,” Smith said, “and gave me the whole picture. I know from afar, because I love the history of this game, and understand how important this place is in football.”

The hiring of Smith marked another offseason in which Day found a coordinator steeped with NFL experience.

It was last year when Day brought in Matt Patricia, a former Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator with the New England Patriots and head coach of the Detroit Lions, and branded him as the head coach of the defense.

Smith arrives with a similar stature on the other side of the ball, enabling Day to continue delegating play-calling for the offense, a role he once held following his promotion from offensive coordinator to head coach in 2019.

“Arthur seemed like the right fit,” Day said.

His background is part of that, adding another coordinator with head-coaching experience in the NFL to the staff.

“You understand what happens in that office and comes across his desk,” Smith said. “You’re a little more empathetic, and you try to your job really well, so you can take that stress off and he doesn’t have to worry about the unit responsibility he gives you.

“It’s a big part of your job, because there’s a lot that goes into that job besides just coaching on the field.”

In his two months with the Buckeyes, Smith has taken to the program, seeing the immense pressure surrounding Ohio State as similar to his time in the NFL.

“You don’t go to Ohio State if you don’t welcome those expectations,” Smith said. “It’s the same thing in the NFL. You have an expectation to win every Sunday, and you love that challenge as a competitor. It kind of gets you going as a coach.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.

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