Clemson football set to lose veteran tight end to transfer portal
A Clemson football tight end is transferring.
Redshirt junior tight end Josh Sapp plans to enter the portal when it opens Friday, The State has confirmed. TigerIllustrated.com was the first to report the news Thursday of Sapp’s intended transfer.
Sapp (6-2, 235) appeared in 41 career games for Clemson over four years but only started twice. For most of this season, he operated as the team’s No. 3 tight end behind starter Olsen Patt-Henry and top backup Christian Bentancur .
Sapp caught 11 passes for 150 yards in 2025, both career highs, but did not score any touchdowns and never had more than two catches or 32 yards in a single game. He caught two passes in Clemson’s season-ending Pinstripe Bowl loss.
The son of former Clemson quarterback and linebacker Patrick Sapp and a product of nearby Greenville High School, Josh Sapp signed with Clemson as a three-star recruit in 2022. He will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Sapp is Clemson’s sixth December or January transfer portal entry, eighth overall scholarship entry and third transfer on offense.
How the NCAA transfer portal works in 2025-26
The NCAA transfer portal window runs for 15 days from Jan. 2-16, 2026. Players cannot formally enter their name into the transfer portal until Jan. 2, although hundreds will declare their intent to enter the portal earlier than that date.
Once they are formally in the portal, player can commit to a school at any point. There is no spring transfer portal window, as the NCAA abolished it last fall.
Clemson football 2025 transfers
- ATH Marquise Henderson (offseason)
- DB Shelton Lewis (mid-season)
- LB Dee Crayton
- RB Keith Adams Jr.
- S Khalil Barnes
- LB Jamal Anderson
- S Rob Billings
- TE Josh Sapp
This story was originally published January 1, 2026 at 5:52 PM.
