Kicker Will Stone to enter transfer portal after three seasons in Austin

Texas Longhorns kicker Will Stone has announced his plans to leave Austin and seek a spot with another program by way of the NCAA transfer portal. The university confirmed Stone’s departure Tuesday, along with running back Jerrick Gibson’s, a change in the depth of special teams as the Longhorns preparing for the second half of their season.

Stone plans to redshirt the rest of the 2025 season in the hopes that he can leave a year of eligibility for his senior season open for him to evaluate where to transfer to next. Stone started as a local product of Regents School in Austin and arrived at Texas as a member of the 2022 class, listed among the top 10 national kickers.

During his years with the Longhorns, he played in 45 games, serving primarily as the team’s kickoff specialist and filling a few field goal and PAT positions. In total, Stone logged more than 6,200 kickoff yards on 98 kicks with an average of 63.6 yards per attempt, with 56 touchbacks during the 2024 season. He also converted 2-of-2 PATs in the 2024 College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State.

In 2025, he had 20 kickoffs, with eight touchbacks, and missed two games due to a back injury. Stone held up well, but in 2025, found himself under pressure when Texas brought in transfer kicker Mason Shipley from Texas State to assume kickoff and placekicking responsibilities in his absence. Stone will bring veteran experience to his next program as Texas pushes forward with the full-time kicking specialist Shipley.