Cincinnati Bearcats Football's Top 2026 Transfer Additions

 The transfer portal madness is winding down across college football as the portal gets ready to officially close to new entries on Jan. 16.

Cincinnati funneled through thousands of names to bring in 23 new faces to the team for Scott Satterfield's fourth season in Clifton. The roster turnover was much more dramatic than last season as Cincinnati replaces key players at quarterback, defensive tackle, and all across the secondary.

General manager Zach Grant is very pleased with the results.

"Nine days. 30 Official Visits. 22 Signees. Coaches, Recruiting, AT, S&C, Nutrition, Academics, Compliance, Contracts, Legal, Creative, EQ, Ops, Admin. To be efficient in the portal, it takes everyone. Extremely proud of the work of these men and women. The Bearcats got better!" Grant posted on X last week.

Let's dive into the three best transfer talents Cincinnati added this cycle.

Ty Goodwill - Safety

South Alabama safety Ty Goodwill is coming off a very strong season in the Sun Belt that should translate pretty well in the Big 12.

The 6-3, 200-pound safety totaled 43 tackles, eight PBUs, two INTs, & four TFLs through two seasons. He has two years of eligibility left after posting a strong 81.2 Pro Football Focus grade across 328 defensive snaps this past campaign.

Goodwill played all over the backend as a strong and free safety, plus time at slot corner in 2025. He logged over 110 snaps in the box and at free safety, while logging 51 snaps at slot corner. 

He dialed up 34 tackles, seven pass breakups, and one interception this season. The veteran should immediately get in the mix to start, along with MAC transfer MJ Cannon and Jasper Beeler. The 3-4 change could bring the safeties to play deeper in coverage with an extra linebacker able to help stop the run. 

Goodwill can play either a safety role, as mentioned, but he needs to clean up his tackling. Pro Football Focus logged him with 10 misses last season, which would've tied with Jake Golday for fifth-most on the team, despite playing about half the snaps in 2025 that Golday logged.

Cade Wolford - Kent State

Wolford is a Swiss Army Knife weapon that could flip games and fields for Cincinnati this coming season.

UC's highest-rated four-star transfer on 247Sports had 509 yards receiving and seven TDs on 26.8 yards per catch this past year. That average led all players in the country.

He plays slot wide receiver mostly and also running back, adding 12 carries for 96 yards and one score across 220 offensive snaps (80.3 Pro Football Focus grade). The 5-10, 190-pound multi-use option is more of a receiver than a running back, logging snaps all over. 

He posted 30 in the backfield, 165 in the slot, and 24 out wide as a freshman in the Mid-American Conference. UC is building out a basically all-new wide receiver unit, and Wolford may be the most dynamic piece of the offense next season. They can line him up virtually anywhere in the formation and let him work his tackle-breaking magic.

His blazing 4.6-second 40-yard dash speed pops out game to game, and he has a great first step out of his breaks when running routes. Wolford didn't play a ton last season, but he was hyper-efficient when getting on the field.

He posted that nation-leading yards per catch, and diving deeper, he ranked third among all wide receivers with 3.56 yards per route run. Wolford should only fill out more in his 5-10 frame in an elevated strength program at UC.

Wolford is arguably the best transfer Cincinnati added in the past two weeks and offers a ton of tantalizing versatility to use in the backfield with Cole Tabb and Gi'Bran Payne. He could instantly be Cincinnati's best big-play weapon.