Wisconsin linebacker Tackett Curtis is the latest player to enter the transfer portal. It should come as no surprise to those who pay attention to Badger football. Last season, he played in all 12 games and emerged as the likely candidate to be a starter in 2025. Yet, true freshmen emerged and began to be the star linebackers that many thought Curtis would be when he transferred from USC.
BREAKING: Wisconsin LB Tackett Curtis plans to enter the @TransferPortal, he tells @On3sports
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 10, 2025
The 6’2 230 LB has totaled 96 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 FF, 2 FR, 6.5 TFL and 4 PD through 3 seasons (16 starts)
1 year of eligibility left ⁰⁰https://t.co/RlUbB6Fk7q pic.twitter.com/5e7MDWc2zx
Tackett Curtis is the latest Wisconsin Badger to enter the transfer portal
Related: Wisconsin football transfer portal tracker: Who's out, in, and the speculation
When true freshmen Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano emerged as the forces, they slowly came to be over the course of the season; it seemed as if the writing was on the wall for Curtis. He's good and had 27 tackles last year in spotty play. Yet, he just didn't take the reins this year as the starter and once again was relegated to being a backup. In 2025, he had 25 tackles, which is actually two fewer than last season.
It's hard to see it work out this way, as he came in from USC as an 8-game starter in his freshman season. He had 40 tackles as a true freshman for the Trojans, but couldn't ever quite make the same impact for the Badgers.
He has one final year to play and will be looking for a new home as an accomplished veteran linebacker with still plenty of talent and ability in the tank.
Curtis is now the sixth Badger to declare their intent to transfer alongside Kyan Berry-Johnson, Remington Moss, Atticus Bertrams, Cade Yacamelli, and Joseph Griffin Jr. Every single one of those feels expected and Curtis is no difference, in many ways, he may be the most expected of all of them as he has starter potential but didn't find starter snap counts at Wisconsin and now he's log jammed by freshmen (about to be sophomores).