Former Texas OL Willie Tyler transfers to Rutgers

Rutgers has added a fourth offensive lineman out of the transfer portal in less than a week as Willie Tyler announced his decision to join the program on Wednesday.

The 6’7”, 330 pounder is originally from Racine, Wisconsin and played tackle for Iowa Western Community College out of high school. He transferred to Texas in 2019 where he redshirted that fall and then opted out of the 2020 season due to the global pandemic COVID-19. Tyler left Texas after the previous coaching staff was replaced last year

After originally set to join Syracuse, he ended up at Louisiana-Monroe this past season. Since entering the transfer portal this winter, Tyler received reported offers from power five schools that include Cal, Minnesota, Purdue, Syracuse and Virginia among others. He ultimately decided between his final two schools, Rutgers and SMU, ultimately choosing to become a Scarlet Knight.

With Tyler’s size and experience, he could be a plug and play acquisition for next season.

Here are some highlights from last season at Louisiana-Monroe.

Tyler joins FCS All-American JD DiRenzo, Colorado State transfer Mike Ciaffoni and Minnesota transfer Curtis Dunlap Jr. as offensive linemen who have committed to the Scarlet Knights in recent days. Like DiRenzo, Tyler has one season of eligibility remaining while Dunlap Jr. has two years remaining. Ciaffoni has three years left.

In the matter of a few days, Rutgers has completely transformed their offensive line room. Adding three players with power five experience and a standout at the FCS level gives assistant coach Andrew Aurich a lot of talent to work with next season. The trajectory of the offense is certainly higher now than it was just last week.