There’s a cruel reality creeping into college football now, and Oklahoma State reserve LB Tom Watts just became the latest example of it. One day you’re flying downhill in a spring game making yourself known, the next day, NCAA compliance is pushing you to the exit door because you became an extra. Oklahoma State Sr. Associate AD for Compliance Ben Dyson confirmed the situation publicly.

“Tom Watts was a football student-athlete at Oklahoma State University during the Spring 2026 term,” Ben Dyson wrote in a statement. “Due solely to roster limitations, Tom was removed from the team following the conclusion of spring practice. Oklahoma State University fully supports Tom’s ability to transfer to another NCAA institution and continue his athletic career.”

Roster limitations. The NCAA’s post-House settlement structure reshaped roster management across Division I athletics. For football, the number is now 105 players. And once those rosters are locked, they’re locked and Tom Watts became the one on the outside. 

The NCAA rules are supposedly to empower college players. Athletes can transfer more easily, profit from NIL, and leverage opportunities that didn’t exist five years ago. But at the same time, schools are making colder business decisions than ever before.

Tom Watts, the sophomore NEO transfer LB and former Bishop McGuinness product, turned heads during Oklahoma State’s spring game. He tied for the team lead with four tackles alongside Ethan Wesloski, LaDainian Fields, and Jaleel Johnson. Late in the game, he dashed downhill and slammed on a ball carrier with the hardest hit of the afternoon. He showed how dominant and aggressive he could’ve been. 

And yet, a few weeks later, he’s leaving because college football’s new roster rules turned him into collateral damage. Still, if Tom Watts transfers to another school without entering the portal, he would trigger another NCAA violation called ghost transfers. 

Back in April, the NCAA approved automatic penalties for schools that accept transfers outside the official portal window. The punishment is massive with a 50% suspension for the head coach plus fines totaling 20% of the sport’s budget. 

“This change addresses gaps in the transfer and tampering policies that have allowed for abuse,” Illinois AD Josh Whitman said when the rule was announced.

Now players like Tom Watts are stuck in a system that somehow became both freer and stricter at the same time. And honestly, Oklahoma State was always going to face roster chaos the second Mike Gundy’s era ended.

Oklahoma State’s roster overhaul under Eric Morris 

When Eric Morris arrived from North Texas, he got an unstable roster. Only 25 players returned from last season’s 115-man roster. Meanwhile, 67 Cowboys transferred out following the coaching change. And the harsh truth buried inside those numbers tells you everything about where Oklahoma State stood as a program. Only 25 of those transfers landed at other Power Conference schools. The remaining 42 ended up outside the power structure. That’s usually what happens after a 1-11 season. 

Eric Morris responded like how any other modern coach would by exploiting the portal. Seventeen North Texas players followed him to Stillwater, including QB Drew Mestemaker, RB Caleb Hawkins, WR Wyatt Young, and several defenders from a Mean Green defense that ranked among the nation’s better units.

ESPN even ranked Oklahoma State fifth in the Big 12 for offseason work because of how aggressively Eric Morris attacked the portal. But aggressive rebuilding comes with casualties because roster caps don’t care if a walk-on LB looked like he belonged. And for Tom Watts, the numbers finally ran out.