The Kansas Jayhawks are set to lose two more scholarship players to the transfer portal, as redshirt freshmen Caleb Redd and Dre Gibson have officially announced their plans to move on from the program. That brings KU’s total to 14 scholarship departures this offseason - a number that underscores just how fluid college football rosters have become in today’s transfer-driven landscape.
Let’s start with Caleb Redd. The defensive end came to Lawrence by way of Lexington, having started his college career at Kentucky.
After one season with the Wildcats in 2024, he entered the portal and landed at Kansas, looking for a fresh start. But Redd’s time in a Jayhawk uniform was brief and limited.
He saw the field in KU’s matchup against Wagner, logging just three snaps all season. Still, with three years of eligibility remaining, he’ll have ample opportunity to find a new home and carve out a more consistent role elsewhere.
On the other side of the ball - or rather, the other side of the field - cornerback Dre Gibson is also heading to the portal. Gibson was part of KU’s 2024 recruiting class and one of three Desert Edge (Arizona) products to sign with the Jayhawks, alongside DJ Warner and Jon Jon Kamara.
While Gibson didn’t crack the defensive rotation in 2025, he did appear in two games on special teams. A former three-star recruit, Gibson had drawn interest from several Power 4 programs before choosing Kansas.
He now hits the portal with two years of eligibility left and the kind of raw athleticism that could still be developed in the right system.
These moves come at a time when the NCAA’s updated transfer rules are reshaping the way programs manage their rosters. In October, the Division I Administrative Council approved changes that push the FBS and FCS transfer window back a few weeks.
Instead of opening in early December - as had been the case in recent years - the portal will now run from January 2 to January 16. That gives both players and programs a little more breathing room after the regular season, but also compresses the decision-making timeline.
Notably, the NCAA also eliminated the spring transfer window. That’s a big shift, especially for players who may have previously waited to see how spring ball unfolded before making a move. Graduate transfers, who once had the flexibility to enter the portal at any point in the spring, are now subject to the same January window as underclassmen.
For Kansas, the departures of Redd and Gibson reflect the broader reality of roster churn in modern college football. While neither player saw significant action in 2025, their exits still count in the scholarship math - and they open up spots that could be filled by incoming transfers, high school signees, or returning contributors looking to step into bigger roles.
As the January window approaches, expect more movement across the country. For the Jayhawks, the focus now shifts to how they reload and retool, with an eye on building depth and competition across the board.