Indiana interior defensive lineman Philip Blidi entered the transfer portal earlier this week and several schools have already been in touch, including Texas.
The 6-3, 295-pound Blidi, who started his college career at Texas Tech before transferring to Indiana last year, is a graduate transfer with one season of eligibility remaining. Since hitting the portal this week, he’s already picked up offers from LSU, Baylor, Washington and Arizona. Several other programs have been in touch and are likely to add to that list. Blidi has official visits set up to Washington (April 5) and Arizona (April 12) and is in discussions about setting one up with LSU.
There are some interesting connections to Texas in this one.
As a high school prospect out of Portales (NM), Blidi was on UT’s radar in the Tom Herman years. He took a Texas visit but never picked up an offer, so the two parties went their separate ways. As a freshman at Texas Tech, Blidi met his now wife. The two have two children, one of which was born in Austin. His in-laws still live in Austin and Blidi and his family visit frequently.
Blidi is expecting to hear from Texas again in the next day or two to further discuss UT’s interest. Should Texas decide to move forward with an offer, Blidi will have a strong interest and I’d expect a visit to be set up quickly.
“They’ve shown interest the past couple of days. They hit me up. I’m supposed to talk to them in the next couple of days about what the opportunity is there,” Blidi said. “So they’re showing some high interest so far. It’s just what the next move is from there, see if it’s a place that ends up offering. If they end up offering, then do they fill needs I have for this last year. Right now, that’s the process with them. Naturally I know a little bit about them from this past year. Just off of that, they check some of those boxes already. I don’t know what else boxes they check until I know that staff more, until they really inform me what they have to offer in terms of developing me for that last year.”
As a grad transfer, Blidi doesn’t have time to mess around. He’s not necessarily in a rush to pick a school, but could be ready to move in about six weeks if he finds the right fit.
“I’m a fifth-year guy. I’m not in a rush in terms of finding the school, but I want to get to know the playbook, get my family moved and settled in,” Blidi said. “I graduate on May 4, could move in May.”
Blidi is familiar with the Texas program (he even has a connection through OB), including the success the Longhorns enjoyed last year and UT’s defensive scheme.
“Just watching what they did defensively last year, the production from the interior line,” Blidi said when asked what has Texas on his radar. “That’s something I love and I need going into this year. I need to have a highly productive year, be disruptive. I’m a disruptive player if you watch the film, and I’d be allowed to do that in that system. The culture has changed around to a winning culture, and that’s important going into my last year. It’s a no-brainer, that’s my wife’s hometown.”
It’ll be a business decision for Blidi but Texas certainly checks a lot of boxes. We’ll keep an eye on this one to see how things develop and will keep you all updated.
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